Roundtable participants:
Carlo Buora, General Manager Finance&Administration, Pirelli María Ángeles García Jiménes, Director of Finance&Administration, Amena Stephen Hodge, Director of Finance, Shell International Georg Lambertz, Finance Director, RWE Dr Herbert Lohneiß, Managing Director, Siemens Financial Services
The inherent flexibility of the syndicated loan is facilitating the parallel growth of capital markets issuance, as has been seen in the US. What unique opportunities will Europe offer corporates for international debt raising relative to other markets?
Buora: The increasing number of capital market issues from corporates and banks has been a clear tendency since the end of 1999. Our focus was already primarily on Europe, due to the concentration of our investments there and to better brand recognition in both the Italian and wider European markets.
García: In our opinion Europe will offer the same opportunities as other geographical areas such as the US or Japan. Right now we seek funding mainly in Europe.
Hodge: I don't feel any large capital market is "unique" anymore. That said, the US remains the leader in depth and liquidity and Europe will only match it if it, and the borrowers based within it, become as economically successful as the US.