A French state-controlled agency is looking to US investors for the first time to help raise several billion dollars of bail-out funding for the country’s banks. Société de Financement de l’Economie Française – the French agency created to raise funding in the bond markets using a government guarantee for its banks – said selling dollar-denominated bonds would help diversify its investor base. It plans to sell up to €70bn in bonds this year - the first time France has sold government guaranteed bonds in dollars, highlighting moves by European banks and agencies to diversify funding sources ahead of a surge of issuance that could weigh on the market.
This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 at 5:37 and is filed under Capital markets.