FCA Bank* acting through its Irish Branch successfully priced today a Euro 850 million offering of unsecured senior debt securities due November 2023, with a fixed rate coupon set at 0.125%. This issuance represents the lowest ever coupon for FCA Bank in the Eurobond market, with an order book of over Euro 5 billion from 277 investors. This issuance, the third one in 2020, falling just a couple of months after the September 2020 trade, accelerates the execution of the 2021 refinancing plan and “further strengthens the group’s funding position, confirming the investors’ confidence in FCA Bank.”
It also deftly sidesteps the consequences of conservative Boris Johnson’s government and the Brexit madness that will isolate the British economy and perhaps see a return to the Irish people of the IRA plague of violence that the Good Friday agreement ended. This nightmare of political violence also present in the US, reappeared last August when a cleanup of the paramilitary New Irish Republican Army led to arrests on terrorism-related charges and serious rioting. If Brexit talks fail, more is likely to follow, and the membership of the New IRA and other groups could grow.
The Associated Press reports that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is “having to flip-flop after his ally Trump was defeated. He has denied that his close ties to Trump will hurt U.K.-U.S relations once Biden takes office in January.”(***See Brexit below)
AutoInformed thinks it too reflects the uncertainty in global economies as Central Banks – led by what some say is a printing-press happy US Treasury – have pushed interest rates on government debt to virtually zero.
This means such debt is no longer an easy safe-haven to protect wealth for the super-rich or those who have financial assets. It also means that ideologues such as Moscow Mitch McConnell can propose such idiotic things such as letting US State Governments go bankrupt while refusing to support working Republicans with a relief package designed to help them, their families and their small businesses through the Great Covid recession that is well underway as the virus spreads uncontrollably under the now defeated, one-term and impeached ex-President Trump.
*FCA Bank
FCA Bank is a bank operating in the motor financing sector as a joint venture between FCA Italy, part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the global automotive group and Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance, which is a major participant in the consumer finance market. The company manages most of the financial activities to support sales of automotive brands in Europe. Financial and leasing programs are operated by FCA Bank and specifically designed for the dealer networks and private customers as well as for business fleets. FCA Bank SpA is present in 17 European countries and Morocco, either directly or through its subsidiaries. As of 30 June 2020 FCA Bank reported a portfolio of outstanding loans worth €25.6 billion.
***AutoInformed on Brexit
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Debt to Watch as Covid Spreads – New FCA Bank Notes
FCA Bank* acting through its Irish Branch successfully priced today a Euro 850 million offering of unsecured senior debt securities due November 2023, with a fixed rate coupon set at 0.125%. This issuance represents the lowest ever coupon for FCA Bank in the Eurobond market, with an order book of over Euro 5 billion from 277 investors. This issuance, the third one in 2020, falling just a couple of months after the September 2020 trade, accelerates the execution of the 2021 refinancing plan and “further strengthens the group’s funding position, confirming the investors’ confidence in FCA Bank.”
It also deftly sidesteps the consequences of conservative Boris Johnson’s government and the Brexit madness that will isolate the British economy and perhaps see a return to the Irish people of the IRA plague of violence that the Good Friday agreement ended. This nightmare of political violence also present in the US, reappeared last August when a cleanup of the paramilitary New Irish Republican Army led to arrests on terrorism-related charges and serious rioting. If Brexit talks fail, more is likely to follow, and the membership of the New IRA and other groups could grow.
The Associated Press reports that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is “having to flip-flop after his ally Trump was defeated. He has denied that his close ties to Trump will hurt U.K.-U.S relations once Biden takes office in January.”(***See Brexit below)
AutoInformed thinks it too reflects the uncertainty in global economies as Central Banks – led by what some say is a printing-press happy US Treasury – have pushed interest rates on government debt to virtually zero.
This means such debt is no longer an easy safe-haven to protect wealth for the super-rich or those who have financial assets. It also means that ideologues such as Moscow Mitch McConnell can propose such idiotic things such as letting US State Governments go bankrupt while refusing to support working Republicans with a relief package designed to help them, their families and their small businesses through the Great Covid recession that is well underway as the virus spreads uncontrollably under the now defeated, one-term and impeached ex-President Trump.
*FCA Bank
FCA Bank is a bank operating in the motor financing sector as a joint venture between FCA Italy, part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the global automotive group and Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance, which is a major participant in the consumer finance market. The company manages most of the financial activities to support sales of automotive brands in Europe. Financial and leasing programs are operated by FCA Bank and specifically designed for the dealer networks and private customers as well as for business fleets. FCA Bank SpA is present in 17 European countries and Morocco, either directly or through its subsidiaries. As of 30 June 2020 FCA Bank reported a portfolio of outstanding loans worth €25.6 billion.
***AutoInformed on Brexit
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.