The GlobalCapital Podcast

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Episodes

255

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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EN-GB

About the show

A weekly podcast from GlobalCapital, the capital markets news service based in London and New York, discussing its most interesting stories from around the world. Every Friday, listen to lively discussion about the very latest themes, the most innovative and important bond and equity issues and syndicated loans and much more from the capital markets. This podcast is for anyone working in - or who wants to work in - the capital markets from investment bankers, to funding and treasury officials, investors, lawyers, analysts, NGOs and lobbyists, regulators and policy makers, and analysts. GlobalCapital has been the "voice of the markets" for over 35 years, covering bond, loan, equity and securitisation markets around the world. We cover everything from public sector bond issuers, financial institutions, emerging markets and investment grade corporate bonds and loans to securitisation (including CLOs and ABS), regulation and market news as well as industry gossip. GlobalCapital is written for capital markets professionals but the podcast is of value to anyone with an interest in the industry, whether you have been working in it for as long as we have, or are looking to make your first career move into it. This podcast is a commute-sized slice of everything that's most interesting from the world's capital markets with the aim of helping you sound smarter in your morning meeting, or making you stand out from the crowd of other hopefuls when kick-starting your career. And don't forget, you can #AskGC anything you like and we will select the best questions to answer on the show. Contact us at podcast@globalcapital.com

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60 recent

August 14, 2026Episode 25451 min

Record temperatures, record bonuses

Send us Fan Mail ◆ Have capital markets comprehended the heatwave? ◆ Which SSA issuers need to get it done this autumn ◆ Halcyon days for MTN, M&A and ECM bankers Heatwaves and wildfires are dominating the news but the capital markets seem barely to have noticed. We discuss how the bond and securitization markets are thinking about the risks of global warming, whether they are worrying about it enough and whether anyone has figured out yet who will fund cliamte adaptation, resilience and mitigation. Meanwhile, public benchmark bond issuance is awakening from its summer slumber. We examine the sovereign, supranational and agency bond market and the deals about to come. We discover there is one group of issuers in particular with funding to do and a limited window in which to do it. We also identify two areas of invetsment banking where career prospects are on the up. We discuss the fashion for hiring experiened medium term note bankers, and their scarcity, and who in M&A and equity capital markets will likely be paying record bonuses this year. Now read on: Markets bask in bullishness as record heat scorches harvests Wildfires put securitization investors on notice of climate risk Securitization investors can’t ignore physical climate risk (FREE TO READ) SSA market braces for 'mini-January' as heavyweights line up Pre-fund, especially if you're French (FREE TO READ) MTN bankers: so hot right now Record payouts beckon in M&A and ECM even as bankers hit beach

August 11, 2026Episode 25350 min

All eyes on the hyperscalers

Send us Fan Mail ◆ Europe's corporate bond market braces for US tech issuance surge ◆ Canada makes move for EU regs equivalence but to what end? ◆ Middle East private placements here to stay... but will take up less room Europe's corporate bond market is fretting over increased bond issuance from hyperscalers in the autumn. These US tech giants, when they come to the market, come big. And with their spreads having widened lately, more storied issuers in the market are worried that it will impact their funding costs too. We examine what could drive such a huge slug of issuance in the next couple of months and whether those tightly priced European companies really have anything to worry about. Canada, meanwhile, is proposing to adjust some of its regulations to make it cheaper for its banks to hold foreign covered bonds. Great news for those banks but critically, the move would also put Canada's regime on a par with the EU's — by far the biggest covered bond market. Matching EU rules is a prerequisite for the bloc to consider full regulatory equivalence. We discuss who would benefit from that, who would not, and how long it might take to have it. Finally, one of the big themes in the bond market since the outbreak of the Iran war at the end of February has been for Gulf issuers to eschew the public bond market in favour of chunky private placements to raise funding. But, as we discover, that could be about to change. We lay out the pros and cons of public versus private market issuance, why issuers might be compelled back into the public market, and whether Gulf issuers' funding toolkit has been forever changed by the experience of the last few months. Now read on: Broader corporate market resists hyperscaler pressures Industry weighs covered bond third-country equivalence Market shift expected to dampen big GCC PP activity

July 31, 2026Episode 25255 min

Another ABF lender collapses, development banks max out private placements

Send us Fan Mail ◆ The collapse of another specialist lender hits asset-backed lending but why it's different this time ◆ MDBs ramp up private funding ◆ No greenium but European banks happy to print more ESG labelled debt Barely six months after the controversial collapse of Market Financial Solutions, another UK specialist lender has tumbled. The failure of Amplifi is another blow to the banks and other institutions that fund the specialist lenders through asset-backed finance. But the devil, or perhaps in this case the angel, is in the detail. For the two situations have stark differences. We explain why the ABF industry is taking Amplifi's collapse in its stride. Meanwhile, some of the world's most prominent multilateral development bank bond issuers have increased the portion of their funding done through private placements rather than through their core public benchmark bond programmes. We examine what is driving the change. Finally, European banks are issuing more and more ESG-labelled debt. This has often been a way for issuers to save on funding costs by targeting a product with a captive investor base. However, there is little of this so-called greenium to be had. So what is behind the volumes? We reveal all. Now read on: Amplifi collapse unlikely to cause major disruption to ABF market MDB funding mix changes as callable bond bid from Asia blossoms European banks ramp up green bond sales, unfazed by lack of greenium

July 24, 2026Episode 25134 min

The bully of the curve

Send us Fan Mail ◆ Oil trumps politics ◆ Kuwait scores late winner ◆ How to save Thames Water harmlessly The three month euro/dollar basis swap was traditionally called the bully of the curve because it controlled the rest, but there is no doubt who’s the boss now — dirty old oil. As the US and Iran traded blows, Houthi threats to close the Gulf of Aden made oil traders freak out this week. Their alarm seized bond markets globally, pushing French and German yields to decade highs and Treasuries to an 18 month peak. Gilt investors should have had a week of interesting navel-gazing, wondering whether new chancellor of the exchequer John Healey is going to be their next hero or villain. Instead they were rudely shaken out of it by global events, as Gilts turned out not to be special — all govvies were selling off. A measure of stability has returned, but it’s looking like an edgy summer. Kuwait likely had that in mind when it brought a $6bn three tranche bond this week, in the last minute of extra time of the bond market’s pre-summer season. It was the first public bond issue by any of the highly rated Middle Eastern governments since the war began. Investors lapped it up, delighting bankers, who hope it will encourage other issuers. Back in the UK, Andy Burnham isn’t probably expecting a honeymoon as prime minister — he didn’t win an election. But his peace will soon be disturbed by having to make a big call on Thames Water. The UK’s largest water company, serving about a fifth of the population, is running out of money. Creditors have put a recapitalisation offer on the table, but nationalisation might be cleaner and safer. How it’s handled matters keenly to the UK’s dozen other water companies. A good outcome for Thames bondholders could reduce the perceived risk premium they have to pay, but a messy one could be slippery for their cost of capital.

July 17, 2026Episode 25048 min

The meaning of a basis point

Send us Fan Mail ◆ Greenium reappears in unlikely place ◆ US banks splash out ◆ Is that all I’m worth? ◆ Cantor is coming A basis point might always be the same quantity, but is it a lot or a little? It depends whom you ask, and when. For supranational, sovereign and agency bond issuers in the dollar market, 1.7bp over Treasuries and 1.9bp over are two different things. Records keep falling as SSAs price ever closer to Treasuries. Last week the International Finance Corp got to 1.7bp — and it was clearly because its $2bn green bond attracted green-mandated investors, more willing to tolerate spread norms being shaved. Could the first new issue to go through Treasuries be a green bond? Across town, the big US banks, led by Goldman Sachs, have been pumping out huge bonds after their quarterly results. The usual big dollar issues have been replaced with bigger ones — and dropping whoppers in the euro market is also common now. The banks are anything but miserly with new issue premiums, seemingly happy to pay 10bp-15bp — in fact their largesse makes life awkward for other issuers. But they’ve got their eyes on bigger prizes. In Europe’s CLO market, investors are ever so stingy. Managers active for decades, with dozens of deals behind them, can woo bondholders and present their credentials till they’re blue in the face. Will investors give them credit for their experience with tighter pricing? A penny or two if they’re lucky. Cantor, the New York broker-dealer led for over 30 years by Howard Lutnick till he took Trump’s shilling as commerce secretary, is not nickel and diming. The firm is moving into European investment banking, starting with equity capital markets, M&A and trading. That takes wedge, and Cantor is dishing out plenty, hiring teams in Hamburg, Milan, Dubai and soon Stockholm. It’s a big if, but if the bet pays off, the returns will not be measured in basis points.

July 3, 2026Episode 24933 min

Banks beefing up buy-backs as sterling market anticipates bright future

Send us Fan Mail ◆ Clean-up calls set to change how banks manage senior debt ◆ The Bank of England's SSA bond booster ◆ What is behind booming corporate bond issuance in sterling A lot of expensive bank bonds, issued when rates and inflation were high and spreads wide, have call dates coming up, meaning issuers will be keen to replace them with cheaper debt at current market prices. To do so, they may completely change how they deal with investors when they do buy-backs. Many of these bonds contain what is known as a clean-up call, which allows the issuer to redeem the rest of the bonds at par once it has competed a tender offer for them, but usually only if it has managed to buy back more than a threshold amount. This puts investors into a dilemma because the price they will be offered in the tender will most likely be better than where they can sell the bonds in the secondary market and what they will get if their bonds are taken back in the clean-up call. It's a technique more commonly used in US markets, and for sub-benchmark sized or subordinated European bank bonds. But now the stakes are being raised as the market contemplates its use in replacing expensive, benchmark-sized senior bonds from issuers that rely on wholesale bond funding. We explore what is at stake for issuers and investors alike. Meanwhile, the Bank of England has started to accept a wider range of public sector bonds as collateral. This will boost the bank treasury bid for sterling SSA bonds. We discuss which new issuers it might attract to the market. Finally, corporate sterling bond issuance has been on a tear this year. We look at who has been issuing, who hasn't, and what the pipeline looks like for the rest of the year. Now read on: Senior bond buy-backs herald new era for European FIG market Sterling SSA issuers rush the queue as BoE repo change beckons new names IG corporate bond market eyes rebound in sterling issuance

June 26, 2026Episode 24852 min

Brewing a bromance between Burnham and bonds

Send us Fan Mail ◆ How UK's likely next PM can woo the bond market ◆ Fibre ABS coming to Europe ◆ The rise of the corporate Kangaroo Andy Burnham looks set to become the next UK prime minister, following the resignation of Keir Starmer on Monday. But how will the new man in 10 Downing Street get along with the bond market? One of his predecessors, Liz Truss, managed fixed income relations so badly, it cost her her job and made her term the shortest in the history of the office. The early signs were not promising. Burnham notoriously said the country should not be "in hock" to the bond market. Perhaps a strange choice of phrase when talking about debt instruments and he has since appeared to row back from the comments, which were intepreted as a fearlessness over borrowing and spending. So how can Burnham manage the business of government while not blowing up the Gilt market? We have some suggestions. Meanwhile, the need for digital infrastructure growth in Europe is acute. The capital markets will be vital in funding it and now it looks like a new asset class is on the way — asset-backed securities secured on fibre optic cable networks. We investigate. We also discuss the rise and rise of the Australian dollar bond market and how global corporations are turning to it increasingly as a source of capital. Now read on: Burnham needs a cause — two would please the bond market First European fibre securitization could arrive within 18 months Offshore corporate borrowers leap into Aussie dollar mart

June 19, 2026Episode 24749 min

The waiting games: ME issuance, digital capital markets and French covered bonds

Send us Fan Mail ◆ Iran peace deal in sight but where are the Middle East issuers? ◆ Why primary capital markets will be slow adopters of DLT ◆ Why French covered bond issuance has slowed and why it might pick up The Iran war has kept the Middle East's bond issuers largely at bay but with the path to peace now clearer, issuance conditions have improved. But even this might not be enough to tempt borrowers back to the primary bond market en masse. We discover why. We also analyse a new report on the digitalisation of wholesale finance and discuss why capital markets might be one of the last bits of finance to go digital. French issuers are among the biggest users of the covered bond market but so far this year, they are way down on the volumes they have issued compared to last year. We examine what has been going on and uncover the reasons why there could be more French deals in the coming months. And we also talk about the GlobalCapital Bond Awards 2026 held this week in London, one of our biggest events of the year, and about some of the awards we handed out on the night. Now read on: Gulf markets lap up peace memo but public issuance unlikely to come roaring back Primary capital markets could be among last to adopt DLT, report finds Core covered issuers to step forward in second half of year GlobalCapital Bond Awards 2026: winners revealed

June 12, 2026Episode 2461 hr 3 min

The ESN has landed

Send us Fan Mail ◆ What now for European Secured Notes ater long-awaited debut? ◆ The mood in European securitization amid MFS fallout and reg reform ◆ Digitalisation of bond market is up to the regulators Bpifrance achieved a world first this week, pricing the inaugural European Secured Note. The deal was a success but it has taken about a decade to get the product from concept to market. The question is now where next for ESNs? This twist on a covered bond has clear applications as a capital market instrument that can help fund the real economy but it could be argued that its future lies in the hands of the regulators and how they choose to treat it. We discuss the different paths ESNs might be led down and the alternatives open to issuers. Meanwhile, GlobalCapital's European securitization team is back from Global ABS in Barcelona — that market's major gathering for the year. We find out what is giving the market cause for fear and cheer. We discuss how specialist lenders, banks and funds are adjusting to prevent or mitigate another scandal like the one that befell Market Financial Solutions earlier this year, and how the securitization market feels about the direction of regulatory reform. Sticking with the topic of all-powerful financial regulators, we also discuss why it is they rather than the technologists that will decide the fate of bond market digitialisation. Now read on: ESNs arrive: regulatory recognition may follow French first European Secured Notes needn’t rush to Brussels Funds eye ABF market share as banks pull back ABS conference delegates emit mixed feelings of trepidation and optimism On DLT, regulators could bring order — or disruption

June 5, 2026Episode 24528 min

Two comebacks and a pull-back: credit card ABS, insurance tier two and SSA bonds

Send us Fan Mail ◆ Credit card ABS grows as securitization sets off for Barcelona ◆ What can scupper insurance tier two spree ◆ SSAs appear unwilling to test Treasury spread record A deal from Vanquis Bank, a securitization of credit card receivables, is the latest deal in a revival of an asset class that has been morinund since the 2008 financial crisis. We examine why this market is making a comeback now and what makes it different this time. We also discuss our sister podcast, Another Fine Mezz 's plans for a live show at next week's Global ABS event in Barcelona, which is the major industry gathering for the European securitization industry, and look ahead to the conference. Insurance companies have been on a spree of tier two issuance lately. We explain why and discuss why investors might be reaching their limit and what issuers can do about it. Finally, we return to a hot topic from last week's show — whether a public sector bond issuer can price a deal at a tighter yield than US Treasuries. It appears that there is some reticence among issuers to be the first, even though doing so would be a major milestone. We examine why that is and explain why it might still happen over the summer anyway. Now read on: Vanquis fuels bank-led credit card ABS comeback Insurer tier two parade begins to test investors' limits On the banks of the Rubicon: hopes for an SSA to price through Treasuries fade Pricing an SSA through Treasuries would be a warning not a trophy

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