Germany’s biggest bank, Deutsche Bank AG, has sold $1.3 billion of yen-denominated bonds, Bloomberg reports.
The ‘samurais’ are marketed in Japan by foreign entities and the sale is the largest since the US sub-prime market problems have affected the global markets.
The interest which the bank pays on the yen bonds is under half what they would be charged on euro bonds.
“Deutsche Bank tried to take advantage of a good appetite from Japanese investors and cheap funding costs,” says Jun Ishida, a fund manager in Tokyo at Societe General Asset Management. “Japanese investors have suffered much less than overseas investors from the sub-prime turmoil. They’re eager to buy bonds, especially those with wider spreads.”