Borrowers Pile Up the Yankees

During the past six years, according to the Federal Reserve, foreign non-financial borrowers placed $170 billion of public and private bonds in the US – nearly four times the volume issued during all of the 1980s and taking the total amount outstanding to $264 billion last September.

Until recently, only most creditworthy foreign names were able to tap the US bond market, the largest pool of capital in the world. Yankee offerings were mainly limited to Canadian provinces, supranationals such as the World Bank and triple-A-rated governments and corporations. But as long-term US rates have fallen, and some barriers to entry were removed, many more borrowers have entered the market. By some estimates, single-A and lesser credits accounted for 60% of last year’s issues (of which 80% were for 10 years or longer).

The introduction of Rule 144a in April 1990 really opened the door, allowing issuers to offer bonds to large US institutional investors without registering the offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This exemption greatly reduces the underwriting and secondary-market trading to these placements.

The adoption of Rule 144a also helped increase awareness among foreign issuers of the US bond market’s unique attractions. “Many can tap 20-, 30- and even 100-year maturities at costs not achievable anywhere else in the world”.

On the demand side, US investors are becoming increasingly receptive to foreign names. In a recent survey of the 400 most active US institutional investors, JP Morgan found that foreign bonds now account for between 9 % and 10% of the average portfolio, compared with 4% to 5% just three years ago. One reason for this interest is a relative decline in the volume of domestic bond issues, especially by US industrials. In these circumstances investors are looking for new ways to diversify their credit exposure and they have looked overseas.

But the most powerful force behind increased demand has been an attempt by US fund managers to boost returns in hopes of outperforming the benchmark indices.

Why Yankees? Since they don’t come to the market often, their yield spreads may not be priced efficiently; it is not uncommon to see a 50 bp difference in spreads between apparently similar issues. Sophisticated managers are looking for “inefficiencies which the market will eventually recognize”, resulting in higher bond prices.

Not surprisingly, these investors are focusing on Asia, expect more Yankee issues from Indonesia, India, Thailand and the Middle East.

VOCABULARY

To pile up                               накапливать

Creditworthy                         кредитоспособный, платежеспособный

To tap the market                  выпускать ценные бумаги на рынок, использовать ресурсы финансового рынка

Triple-A-rated                        имеющий рейтинг ААА (высший кредитный рейтинг по системе Стэндард Энд Пур)

Single-A credit                      кредит, имеющий рейтинг А (низкий рейтинг)

Rule 144a                              правило 144а (правило Нью-йоркской фондовой биржи)

Disclosure                              предоставление компанией информации о своей деятельности

Awareness                             (зд.) осведомленность

Receptive                                      восприимчивый

Exposure                           риск потенциальных убытков

Benchmark index                  отправной индекс, базовый индекс

Spread                                   спред

Bp (basis point)                 базовые пункты

 

Exercise 17. Choose the correct explanation without using a glossary.

 

1. “to accumulate; to lad” is …

a) to pull up

b) to pile up

c) to cover

d) to fulfill

 

2. “trustworthy, able to pay back” is …

a) creditworthy

b) receptive

c) expensive

d) rich

 

3. “location or arrangement” is …

a) basement

b) regulation

c) placement

d) offsetting

 

4. “knowing or realizing; conscious; informed” is …

a) awareness

b) aloneness

c) information

d) loneliness

 

5. “receiving or tending to receive, take in, admit or contain” is …

a) receptive

b) receiving

c) connecting

d) creditworthy

 

6. “to estimate the value, worth, strength, capacity, etc.; appraise” is …

a) to counter

b) to rate

c) to contribute

d) to sum up

 

7. “to become due: said of a note, etc.” is …

a) to submit

b) to subscribe

c) to miss

d) to mature

 

8. “the number of times a stock of goods is sold and replenished in a given period of time” is …

a) turnover

b) security

c) placement

d) fixed date

 

9. “that can be approached or entered; easy to approach or enter” is …

a) deniable

b) tangible

c) accessible

d) reliable

10. “to catch up with and, often, go beyond; to come upon unexpectedly or suddenly” is …

a) to overtake

b) to overtax

c) to come across

d) to hurry up

 

Exercise 18. Reread the article of exercise 16 more carefully and complete the sentences given below using information from the article:

 

1. During the past six years, according to the Federal Reserve, foreign non-financial borrowers placed __________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________.

 

2. Until recently, only most creditworthy foreign names were able to

______________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________ .

 

3. Yankee offerings were mainly limited to _______________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________ .

 

4. But as long-term US rates have fallen, and some barriers to entry were removed, many more borrowers have entered _________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________ .

 

5. The introduction of Rule 144a in April 1990 really opened the door, allowing issuers to ___________________________________________________________

______________________________________________  .

 

6. On the demand side, US investors are becoming _______________________

_____________________________________________________________________________ .

 

7. The adoption of Rule 144a also helped increase awareness among ___

_____________________________________________________________________________ .

 

8. But the most powerful force behind increased demand has been an attempt by US fund managers _____________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________ .

9. In a recent survey of the 400 most active US institutional investors, JP Morgan found that __________________________________________________________

______________________________________________ .

 

10. Not surprisingly, these investors are focusing on Asia, expect more Yankee issues from __________________________________________________________

______________________________________________ .

Exercise 19. Single out the main facts of the article of exercise 16 and present them in a short review.

 

Exercise 20. Listen and retell the text. Write down 3-5 questions about the text. Discuss the reasons which led to the creation of the UK debt market and its structural changes in the late 80s.

 

The UK Government bond market is generally the market of gilt-edged (золотообрезные) securities. These securities are considered to be very safe.

The market origins go back to 1694 when the Bank of England was founded to help the Government raise money to fight the French. Borrowing to finance wars has been common and the outstanding amount of debt has soared during all of the major wars since then. The major expansion, however, came in the post-World War II period, especially in the 1970s and early 1980s. Historically, the market developed with a strict separation between brokers and jobbers. The brokers did business with the public, but the jobbers did business only with brokers, and with each other.

On 27 October 1986 the market was structurally recognized. As a result of the “Big Bang” the market switched to a new trading system, modeled on the US bond market. The essential change in this market was that a structure was separate jobbers and brokers was replaced with a structure with gilt-edged market (GEMMs) who deal directly with large customers.

The gilt-edged markets constitute that major proportion of money passing through the Stock Exchange. Transactions are typically much larger than in the equity market.

UK gilts consist of two distinct markets, the short gilts market (securities with five years or less to maturity) and the market for medium and long gilts.

Some time in the past there were forecasts that the gilt market would disaster by the end of the century. The Big Bang reforms succeeded in achieving one of the key objectives – to make the market accessible and attractive to international investors. There has been an increasing trend towards investors moving funds between the major bond markets, taking views on both the bonds themselves and the currencies involved. Now, in its current form it is firmly in the mainstream as one of the world’s most actively traded bond markets.

As to the UK corporate bond market, it has a mixed history. Historically, it has been a major source of corporate funds but issuance virtually stopped during the 1970s and early 1980s due to high inflation and large government issuance.

In the last few years, the market has sprung to life again, helped by the fall in long-bond yields due to inflation fall and temporary disappearance of the government’s borrowing requirements.

Exercise 21. Translate the article into English. Pay attention to the use of tenses.

 

Нефть поддержит рубль

 

Для России финансовая ситуация пока складывается крайне благоприятно. На какой график не посмотри – везде положительные движения. Самая впечатляющая картина, конечно, на фондовом рынке. Впервые в новом веке индекс РТС преодолел знаковую отметку 500 пунктов. Практическая польза от этого сомнительна, но приятно. И сколько ни говорят аналитики о неизбежности скорой коррекции, но на рынке находятся игроки, с завидным постоянством скупающие российские ценные бумаги, в основном – нефтяных компаний.

Привлекательность нефтяного сектора растет и потому, что мировые цены на нефть никак не хотят снижаться. То террористы взрывают нефтепроводы в Ираке, по которым черное золото должно идти на мировой рынок. То куда-то исчезают нефтяные запасы в США. Эта напряженность и поддерживает высокие цены на топливо. В настоящее время котировки российской нефти марки Urals подбираются к отметке $26 за баррель. Эта цена хоть и не является запредельной, но высокой ее вполне можно назвать.

Косвенно это подтверждает и рост золотовалютных резервов России. После двух недель снижения (связанного с выплатами по внешнему долгу) вновь поставлен исторический рекорд – $64,9млрд. И пока смены тенденции не ожидается. Даже несмотря на снижение нормы обязательной продажи экспортной выручки. Еще с конца прошлого года экспортеры продают на внутреннем рынке гораздо больше валюты, чем этого требуется по закону. Так как выгоднее вкладывать деньги в России, чем оставлять их за границей. Так что решение депутатов – это скорее аванс Центральному банку, который может использовать их в других обстоятельствах. Пока же укрепление рубля по отношению к доллару продолжается. Российский валютный рынок, конечно, крайне специфичен, но игнорировать движения на международном валютном рынке получается все меньше. Тем более что сейчас наметилось очередное большое движение в сторону укрепления доллара. Вплоть до четверга прошлой недели евро с трудом держался на стратегической отметке $1,15 за евро. Но после сужения учетной ставки в США (до 1,0%) курс рухнул еще ниже. Снижение ставок теоретически ослабляет доллар, однако текущую тенденцию это не смогло переломить. Так что евро может скоро выйти из фаворитов накопления.

 

«Коммерсант ДЕНЬГИ», 30 июня – 6 июля 2003

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

 

 

LESSON 5

⇐ Предыдущая234567891011Следующая ⇒

Поделиться: