Representatives of the International Investment Bank (IIB) participated in the V Cbonds Emerging Markets Bond Conference dedicated to bonds on developing countries’ markets, with the IIB as one of the main sponsors of the event. The conference took place on April 14-15 in London with the participation of more than 200 representatives of major investment banks, investment funds, asset management, investment and consulting companies focusing on CEE, Russia and CIS.

During the session devoted to emerging markets bonds, IIB Deputy Chairman, Denis Ivanov, gave a review of existing opportunities for investors and issuers on the debt markets of CEE and Russia, and presented IIB’s unique experience of placing its bonds (so-called “mibovki”) on three local markets of its member states.

D. Ivanov commented in detail on the aspects, which allowed the IIB – which first entered the debt markets in the spring of 2014 – to place six bonds issues on three stock exchanges: in Bratislava, Bucharest and Moscow. The total volume of these bond issues in euro equivalent (on the date of placement) amounts to almost EUR 340 million. The Bank’s position on these markets is well established – IIB’s placement in Slovakia in 2014 was the first among IFIs for at least a decade, its placement in Romania in 2016 was the largest among local IFI placements for the past six years, and the total volume of IIB’s bonds currently circulated in Russia reaches the volumes of such institutions as the IFC and the EBRD.

Implementing its strategy of local placements, the IIB is not only actively developing cooperation with the institutional investors in these countries, expanding its resource base and reinvesting the funds back into the country’s economy by financing productive activities, but it also promotes the development of the local capital markets, which is among the Bank’s priorities and is supported by the national authorities. The Bank has been awarded by the Romanian Stockbrokers’ Association for its contribution in this area in December 2016. Moreover, the Bank has become a driver for specific innovations – thanks to its efforts, beginning this year IFIs in Russia will be able to register large-scale bond programmes. The Bank took itself an advantage of this new option by registering a programme for RUB 100 billion or the equivalent in another currency.

In addition, the participants of the conference were briefed about the characteristics of the debt markets of IIB’s member states and the most important legal aspects of issuing securities in these countries.

During the event, IIB’s representatives also held a number of meetings with executives of asset management companies, investment banks and funds, discussing issues regarding mutually beneficial cooperation.