The new Italian government coalition of the Democratic Party and the Five Star Movement has been gifted a golden opportunity. The sharp drop in its sovereign bond yields means it can get ahead of its borrowing requirements for this year. Italian yields have fallen to record lows recently as investors have welcomed an administration that’s somewhat less antagonistic to the ...

If the ultimate goal of lower interest rates is to spark economic activity through demand for loans, then the Federal Reserve’s first cut in more than a decade can be deemed a failure. After the central bank lowered its target rate for overnight loans between banks on July 31 to a range of 2% to 2.25%, demand for credit among ...

A type of financial engineering that proved to be toxic during the financial crisis is slowly making a comeback as banks try to offset the risk of their borrowers not repaying their loans. Capital relief trades, or synthetic deals, are making a comeback – and Europe is about to refine the rules of the game. Getting those right will be ...