Thursday 9 June 2011

FT Alphaville » Sovereigns of fortune (a debtor’s prison break)


In 2008-2009, a sovereign crack commando unit was sent to debtor’s prison by a bond vigilante court for a crime they didn’t commit.
(Well, actually, private-sector balance sheet losses, exchange rate collapse, all sorts of dubious government decisions, that kind of thing — still hard to say who committed what, bit of a mess really.)
These sovereigns promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the dollar bond issuance underground. Today, still wanted by the markets, they survive as sovereigns of fortune.
If you have a problem…
If no one else can help…
And if you can find them…
Maybe you can hire…
Iceland is poised to raise up to $1bn in its first bond issue since the country’s banking sector collapsed in 2008, marking a step towards normalisation of its relations with international capital markets…
(First bond issue since 2006)
A benchmark dollar bond planned by Latvia will carry a 10-year tenor and will be sold this week, market sources said on Tuesday…
(And the first one for Latvia since 2008)
Dubai, buoyed by tightening spreads and an oversubscribed bond last week by its flagship carrier, plans to come to the market itself, with a potential benchmark dollar bond, leads said on Thursday…
(Only the second bond here since the Dubai World crisis)



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