Volumes bounce despite regulatory uncertainty

摘要

CLO sponsors are forging ahead with US$8.4bn of new deals priced so far in February, despite uncertainty over whether regulators will relax certain Volcker Rule provisions for the CLO market. The market has showed signs of rebounding from a working calendar-shortened January when less than US$2bn of new deals were launched. Still, year to-date new CLO volume remains 34% lower than that of last year, according to Thomson Reuters data. CLO equity sponsors are not sure whether a favourable regulatory outcome will occur, and in what form, but some are adapting and moving ahead anyway.