For the first time after nine years, the Italian Treasury is back on the market with a bond denominated in US dollars. Or at least, she's thinking about it. In a note from the Ministry of Economy we read that “a new dollar-denominated multi-tranche issue in SEC-Registered Global format may be carried out in the near future, in relation to market conditions".
For the moment, Via XX Settembre has entrusted Barclays, HSBC and JP Morgan with the mandate to organize a Global Investor Call at 15:30 (Italian time) on 7 October, which may be followed by a series of bilateral calls with investors.
The bonds will be available for purchase by all: "The reference market (governed by MIFID II) is made up of qualified, professional and retail counterparties (all distribution channels)”, specifies the Treasury, adding that “price stabilization is envisaged according to the FSA and Icma rules”.
This issue marks Italy's return to the dollar bond market for the first time since 2010. Indeed, the last global issue of greenbacks dates back to September nine years ago: at the time it was a three-year bond issued for two billion dollars.
