LONDON (Reuters) – Investment banks raked in record fee income from managing corporate bond issues in the year to end-April, data from Refinitiv showed, as companies scrambled to raise money to help see them through the COVID-19 crisis.
Corporate bond desks earned $10.6 billion in fees in the first four months, a 24% rise from the same period in 2019 — itself a record — the data showed.
The U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank have injected unprecedented stimulus into the market, including through corporate bond purchases, making them an attractive fund-raising tool for companies.
(Reporting by Abhinav Ramnarayan; editing by Simon Jessop)
