Credit Agricole Joins Rush for Unusual Capital as Fed Cuts Rates
(Bloomberg) -- Credit Agricole SA is looking to raise capital with a bond that has to be repaid after only a decade, adding to a recent raft of longer-duration instruments as investors look to take advantage of the Federal Reserve’s rate cuts.
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The French lender targets at least $500 million with a perpetual Additional Tier 1 bond on Tuesday, callable by 2034, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified. Initial price talk is set at around 7.25%.
Bloomberg News has reached out to Credit Agricole for comment.
The offering adds to this month’s spate of deals for bank capital with longer maturities. European lenders selling AT1 bonds in dollars and US banks issuing preferred stock have raised funding with a higher sensitivity to interest rates than usual, responding to demand for assets that will gain more value as Fed officials consider more big cuts.
“The Fed has just confirmed that a relatively rapid cutting-cycle is coming, supporting demand for duration,” Bank of America strategists including Yuri Seliger wrote in a note to clients.
The trend began in the summer when Wall Street banks including Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley started selling preferred equity with the heaviest dose of rate risk in years, responding to what was back then just expectations of Fed cuts. This rate sensitivity, known in trader parlance as duration, has now become the main draw in a market where instruments are typically repayable after five years.
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