The Global Bond Program

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The Global Bond Program

This is the Republic of Italy’s most important source of international funding. Securities issued in this format address investors located, as the word “Global” suggests, anywhere in the world. The focus of the Global Bond shelf is the US market, in which the Republic raises the bulk of its total international funding needs since 2001. Following increasing response from international investors, in 2010 the Republic of Italy agreed with 12 leading international investment banks to form a group of Dealers whose focus would be to sustain the Republic’s US$ Benchmark Global bonds. To date, Dealers under the Program are: Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS.

Thanks to a very focused approach, and extensive support from the Dealers as well as other leading investment banks, the Republic has been able to improve its penetration into international markets. The main building block of this approach has been a clear commitment to the US market: ensuring a regular presence in the market, providing continuous liquidity for each bond, and being transparent and open to investors. As a result, the Republic of Italy has built a liquid yield curve in US dollars, up to the 30-year maturity and is the leading non-US issuer on the US market. Outstanding securities denominated in US dollars are indicated in the table Foreign Debt before Swap.