Eurobonds: The joys of the new Euromarket

After so many months of nervous promises that the euro would herald a new era of bond issuance and credit awareness, bankers can hardly believe it. Volumes in the first quarter have been huge. Europe's investors are forsaking the safety of government bonds and placing big orders for corporate paper. In this new market everything is up for grabs. Market practices are ill-defined, pricing is uncertain and the league table results are wide open. Peter Lee reports.

Europe’s new currency might have had a stinking debut on the foreign exchange markets, falling by nearly 10% against the dollar in the first two months, but participants in the Eurobond market couldn’t care less. For Eurobond market firms, life has rarely been sweeter. The launch of the euro has brought in its wake a bull market: a boom in new issues and an opening up of the market both to new borrowers and new investors.

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