Chapter 6 - Capital Markets Flashcards
Structure of Financial Markets
financial markets are divided into two markets
(1) money markets - issues with maturities of one year or less
(2) capital markets - issues with maturities of more than one year and is comprised of two markets
(a) debt market - fixed income capital (e.g. bonds, term loans, etc.)
(b) equity market - shares of common and preferred stock
Capital Market Debt Instruments
represent a lending arrangement in which the issuer borrows funds from the investor
- capital market debt typically has an original maturity ranging from over 1 year to 30 years or longer
- liquidity of debt instruments is inversely related to maturity
Equity Instruments
issuing firm exchanges an ownership interest in the firm for capital
- ownership interest may result in investor earning dividends and capital gains
- equity security does not have a fixed maturity date
Captial Market Participants
(1) Issuers: respresent the supply side of capital markets
(2) Investors: represent the demand side of capital markets
(3) Intermediaries: play a number of key roles to facilitate the purchase and sale of capital market securities
(4) Regulators: role is to ensure consistent / transparent disclosure of financial info and ensure fair and level playing field for all market participants
(5) Other Participants: include credit rating agencies, transaction processors, central securities depositories (CSDs), custodians, external auditors, etc.
Capital Market Participants - Issuers
represent the supply side of capital markets
- issuers of debt securities are borrowers
- issuers of equity securities are selling ownership of their company
Types of Capital Markets Issuers (5)
(1) Governments and Central Banks: issue debt securities
- issue debt securities with varying maturities
- backed by the full faith and credit of the issuing govt
- used to finance fiscal deficits
- issued through the ministry of finance or treasury dept
(2) Corporations: issue debt and equity securities
- corporates and FIs raise capital through the sale of corporate equity and issuance of debt
- most corporate debt is in the form of 3-15 year bond issues
- corporates issue both preferred and common equity and some issues can be in the form of hybrid securities (e.g. convertible bonds - combine both debt and equity features into a single instrument)
(3) State-Owned Enterprises: issue debt securities
- SOE may issue debt securities that range from short term money market securities to bonds with terms of over 20 years
(4) Sub-Sovereign Entities: issue debt securities
- govt units e.g. states / munis
- borrow extensively in the debt capital markets in many but not all countries
- interest paid to investors on such instruments is generally exempt from federal income taxation
(5) Mutual Fund Companies: issue debt and equity securities
- mutual fund is a collective investment vehicle where investors place cash and the mutual fund company / asset manager will use the cash to acquire a range of assets in the name of the fund
- mutual funds do not represent direct issuance of bons / stocks but rather shares of the funds itself, and the fund holds aggregated securities
- allow smaller investors to easily diversify their investments
State-Owned Enterprises
is a firm that is created by a national government for the purpose of participating in / supporting various commerical activities on the govt’s behalf
- can be either wholly or partially owned by a govt
- aka crown corporations in Canada or GSE’s in the US
Capital Market Participants - Investors (3)
investors represent the demand side of capital markets, types of investors include:
(1) retail investors: individuals buying small amounts for their own portfolios
- issuers have more stringent disclosure requirements in order to market to retail investors
(2) institutional investors: large scale investors e.g. mutual fund companies, insurance companies, money managers, pension funds, corporate treasury depts, banks
- purchase large blocks of securities for their own portfolio and / or on behalf of others
(3) central banks: purchase longer term corporate debt instruments to inject funds into the economy - a form of monetary policy known as quantitative easing
Capital Market Participants - Regulators
role of capital markets regulator is to
(1) require issuers to provide consistent and transparent disclosure of financial info
(2) ensure a fair and level playing field for all market participants
Key US Capital Markets Regulators:
(1) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
(2) Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
(3) Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
(4) Municipal Securities Ruulemaking Board (MSRB)
Key EU Capital Market Regulators
(1) European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)
(2) each member state also has its own capital market regulator
Capital Market Participants - Intermediaries
play a number of key roles to help facilitate the purchase and sale of capital market securities
(1) investment bankers: help issuers design and place new securities issues, services typically include underwriting the initial offering and providing advisory services
(2) originators: trading professionals that evaluate, price, and manage the placement of new issues
(3) securities traders: maintain active, orderly secondary markets for equity and debt instruments”
Regulation FD
provides that when an issuer discloses MNPI to certain individuals / entities e.g. stock analysts, or holders of issuer’s securities who may trade on the basis of the info, the issuer must disclose that same info publicly
Capital Market Participants - Other Participants
(1) credit rating agencies: provide info to investors that help determine credit risk and return of securities
(2) transaction processors: involved in the flow of payments from issuers to investors (e.g. dividend, interest, principa) and also provide record keeping
(3) central securities depositories (CSDs): provide settlement services for cross-border and domestic securities transactions
(4) custodians: take possesion of securities, receive delivery or book entry of P+I payments, perform record keeping and provide investment portfolio maintenace services
(5) external auditors: aduti financial statements and check mark-to-market valuations to increase reliability of financial info used by investors and creditors
Investment Banking Process
(1) investment bank / syndicate underwrites a securities issue
(2) issuing firm receives funds from investment bank on issue date and may used proceeds for their intended purpose
(3) investment bank markets the issue to the investing public through a network of brokerage firms aka selling group / syndicate
(4) issue is divided among brokerage firms based on initial syndication agreement
(5) brokerage firms in turn allocate securities to individual offices
There are 3 phases to the investment bank process:
(1) Origination
(2) Underwriting
(3) Distribution
IB - Origination
during origination phase, the investment bank will:
(1) consult with issuer on the characteristics / structure of the issue depending on factors such as volume, term, and interest structure
(2) advise on structure to meet the issuer’s requirements
(3) monitors market conditions to advise issuer on best time to bring the issue to market in order to maximize issue price and funds raised
IB - Underwriting
act of purchasing all or part of a block of securities issued by a company
- in many cases lead IB (lead left) will invite other Ibs to join the underwriting process to reduce its risk
- two wasys to underwrite a securities issue:
(1) full underwrite: IB / syndicate owns the entire issue
- issuer receives funds net of issuance costs and fees
- IB / syndicate assumes the price and marketability risks associated with the issue
(2) best efforts: issuer pays a fee directly to the IB as comp for advising and marketing the issue
- IB does NOT underwrite the issue and simply places shares through a group of brokerage firms
- if an issue is oversubscribed, possible actions include raising the issue price or issuing additional securities
IB - Distribution
involves the sale of the securities
- once the underwriting syndicate owns the new securities, each member of the syndicate will its distribution system to sell the issue
IB Issue - Price Risk
risk that the entire issue is not able to be sold at the anticipated market price
IB Issue - Marketability Risk
risk / probability that not all of the shares will be sold
IB Conflict of Interest / Wall
(1) underwriting / distribution function - sell side
(2) advisory / management - buy side
- research / recommendation provide by buy side should be independent from sell side to prevent each party from acquiring MNPI and acting upon it
- research analyst may be brought “over the wall” to add knowledgable opinion to the underwriting process but that employee is not allowed to comment on any info learned from the underwriting process until it has become public knowledge
Major Channels of the Capital Markets
(1) Primary Markets: offer newly issued debt and equity securities to investors
(2) Secondary Markets: securities can be bought and sold on the secondary market and since this happens among investors, issuing firm does NOT experience change in cash flow or change in # of shares outstanding
(3) Private: private equity firms can purchase ownership of privately held companies, help public company go private; debt can also be issued privately via private placement
Equity Issues
new issues increases the issuer’s level of outstanding stock
(1) Seasoned Equity Offering (follow on issue): new equity shares issued by a firm that already has shares trading on an exchange or OTC market; market price of existing shares guides price for new shares
(2) initial public offering: when a firm issues equity shares to the public for the first time; no market guidance to value of stock shares, IB will consult to select a price that represents the highest price per share that can be obtained while selling all the shares in the issue
IPO for SPAC (special purpose acquisition company)
IPO may be used to raise capital to form a SPAC
- SPAC will initially have no commerical activity and funds raised are placed in traust to be used to buy stock of an existing company
- regulatory activity required for going public happens when the SPAC is launched
- therefore, a company can go public via acquisition by a SPAC which allows it to go public without the cost of arranging its own IPO (company becomes publicly listed due to tis ownership by the publicly listed SPAC)
Organized Stock Exchanges
facilitate in buying and selling of equity securities
4 Benefits of Organized Stock Exchanges
(1) competitive marketplace where supply / demand determines price
(2) frequent trading minimizes price volatility between individual trades
(3) depth of capital markets allow issuers to raise large amounts of capital through securities offerings
(4) fair market for echange participants
Over the Counter (OTC) Markets
members of OTC markets include securities firms
- firms may choose to maintain an inventory of equity / debt securities
- firms stand ready to buy same securitites from investors or other dealers wishing to buy/sell
- rely on electronic communication to conduct trading activity in an auction-style market between brokers and dealers
- more decentralized than formal exchanges
Private Placement (direct placement)
securities are not underwritten but sold to a limited hgroup of institutional investors
- regulation require the private placement securities be sold to a limited number of high-net-worth investors or to qualified institutional investors (QIIs)
- IB acting as broker, meets with prospective buyers and confirms the details of the offering
Benefits of a Private Issue
(1) private issues do not require preparation of a prospectus, and may be exempt from registration with various local authorities; can be completed faster than a public issue
(2) lower issuance costs, since exempt from regulatory registration
(3) limited disclosure of proprietary info
(4) less restrictive covenants
(5) higher interest rate for the investors (to offset the lower liqudity of private placement)
Qualified Institutional Investors (QII) Regulation in EU
MiFID II regulations in the EU define 3 categories of clients:
(1) eligible counterparties: investment firms, asset managers, insurance companies, banks, and other regulated FIs
(2) professional client: to be considered professional, company must have two of the following criteria
(i) balance of EUR 20mm
(ii) net turnover of EUR 40mm
(iii) own funds of EUR 2 mm
- or other investors can request to be considered professional if they fulfill two of the following criteria:
(i) perform an avg. of 10 significant transactions per quarter for the last year
(ii) investment portfolio of at elast EUR 500k
(iii) worked in a relevant financial services role for at least a year
(3) retail client: not instituitional clients - any investors that don’t meet the criteria to be designated as either an eligible counterparty or professional client
US Guidelines re: Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB)
US guidelines re: QIBs are established by the SEC as set forth in Rule 144A of the 1933 Securities Act:
- QIB is an institution that manages at least $100mm in securities and can be a bank, pension fund, insurance company, employee benefit plan, an entity owned entirely by qualified investors
- QIB can also be a registered broker-dealer that owns and invests at least $10mm in securities of issuers not affiliated with the broker-dealer
- private placement will often require that an investor attest to its status as a QIB as private placements may not be marketed to non-QIBs
Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of 2012
relaxed Rule 144A so that securities can be sold to non-QIBs including general solicitation as long as the issuer reasonably believes the purchasers to be QIBs
Debt Market
organization and govt entities can raise debt capital in both the short term money market and long term capital market
- debt capital imposes a payment requirement on the issuer, the interest portion of these payments is usually tax deductible for the issuing firm
- due to fixed nature and deductibility of interest payments, debt can be an advantageous source of financing
Seniority
determines different classes of debt and their priority of claims in the event of bankruptcy
- subordinated debt: is paid after other creditors have been paid
- unsecured debt: the indenture agreement and covenants related to each debt issue will determine the priority of claims
- seniority affects the risk of a given debt issue, which impacts the interest rate and covenants related to that debt issue
Term Loans
- has a fixed maturity (usually longer than one year)
- can be repaid either in installments or in a single payment
- typically issued with amortized payment structure aka periodic payments that represent both interest and principal
- can also be structured so that periodic payments only represent interest with terminal / balloon payment of principal at maturity
- typically negotiated with a financial institution
Medium / Intermediate Term Notes
- companies and govts can issue medium or intermediate term notes ranging from 2-10 years
- pays interest at periodic intervals, similar to long term bonds except for the shorter maturity
- these securities can be traded actively and dealers may stand ready to be market makers, therefore medium / intermediate term notes are deemed marketable, liquid securities
Long-Term Bonds
- represents a contract between issuing entity and bondholders
- typically issued with original maturities of 10 to 30 years
- issued similar to stock and are bought and sold on the secondary market
- bonds are typically unsecured debt
- most long-term bonds pay coupons aka semiannual interest payments at a fixed coupon rate over the life of the bond
- principal is repaid in full to the bondholder on the bond maturity date
Bond Indenture
- the contract between bond issuer and bond holders
- indenture includes:
(1) description of the bond issue
(2) lists collateral
(3) representations and warranties
(4) covenants
(5) states the terms by which the company will provide funds for redemption
(6) sets forth the interest payment dates / amounts, the scheduled maturity date, and any early redemption / call provisions
(7) restrictions included in the indenture can
(a) place limits on the use and disposition of
assets
(b) limits on the level and type of working capital
(c) payment of dividends and
(d) the ability to acquire additional financing
Bond Call Provisions
call provision allows the issuer to retire or “call” the bonds prior to maturity
- normally retire bonds at a call premium
- exercised when opportunity arises to raise new debt at a lower interest rate or following a corporate event e.g. change in ownership
Bond Put Provisions
allows the buyer to redeem the bond prior to maturity by forcing the issuer to buy the bonds back at a discount
Mortgage Bonds
- used to finance specific assets e.g. real estate or manufacturing equipment
- pledged assets serve as security against the issue
- usually include substantial financial covenants or indenture agreements
Debentures
- debentures are unsecured bonds that represent general claims against the issuer’s assets and / or cash flows
- offer a higher interest rate than secured bonds
- large financially secure organizations issue debentures based on their credit rating in the marketplace
- organizations that don’t have easily securitized assets must use unsecured borrowing through debentures
- may be issued on a subordinated basis
- unsecured bonds may include sovereign, corporate, and muni bonds
Convertible Bonds
- corporate debt securities that can be converted by the holder (sometimes by issuer) into shares of common or preferred stock at a fixed ratio of shares per bond
- provide investors with potential for capital growth
- investors may accept a lower interest rate compared to bonds that are NOT convertible
Sovereign Bonds
- bonds issued by a national govt, typically denominated in the currency of the issuing govt
- both credit risk and political risk associated with sovereign bonds
- sovereign bonds have increased political risk as the decision to meet interest and debt repayment obligations can be used as a diplomatic bargaining tool in certain circumstances
- can sometimes be issued in a currency other than the home currency of the issuer - these bonds would carry additional risks:
(1) FX risk and
(2) higher default risk as govt cannot print more money to meet repayment obligations
Sub-sovereign (Muni) Bonds
- bonds issued by govt entities are usually in the form of general obligation or revenue bonds
(1) general obligation bonds: are paid from proceeds of general tax revenue
(2) revenue bonds: are repaid from the revenues generated from specific public projects or services
Eurobonds (external bond)
- international bond that is denominated in a currency other than that of the country in which it is issued
- typically sold simultaneously in many countries ouside the country of the borrower
- can be an effective financing tool that gives issuer flexibility to choose currency and country in which to offer their bond based on (1) country regulatory constraints (2) foreign exchange needs (3) preferred currency
- also provides MNC’s the ability to create natural hedge
Zero-Coupon Bonds
- do not pay interest and issued at a discount below par value
- sole cash outflow for the issuer is the repayment of par value at maturity
Advantages for the Corporate Isssuer:
(1) no cash outflow until maturity
(2) issuing company receives an annual tax deduction until maturity
Disadvantage for Investors:
(1) not callable or refundable
(2) investors are required to pay taxes on imputed interest earnings each year but no paymnet is received until maturity - if held in a portfolio that is not tax-exempt, there is negative cash flow for the life of the bond
Floating or Adjustable Rate Debt
- carry interest payments that reset periodically based on movement in a representative interest rate index
- rate is stated as a spread above the base index rate
- interest rate may be reset daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annuallly
- reset frequency is based on the index that is used
- attractive to investors during periods of rising rates as floating rate debt provides stable market value and matches current interest rates
- borrowers may prefer floating rate debt when interest rates are believes to drop in the future