Home / 2006 / March 2006 / Going Mainstream

Going Mainstream

Going Mainstream

March 1, 2006
In February, Mexico became the first foreign sovereign issuer to sell bonds to retail investors in the United States through a $1.5 billion InterNotes program.

Mexico

It would have been unthinkable a decade ago for Mexico – then a junk-rated country – to sell debt to mom and pop investors in the United States. In the mid-1990s, the US government stepped in to help Mexico with a $20 billion bailout package after a devaluation of the peso. Mexico's so-called Tequila Crisis spread to other emerging markets, wreaking havoc on their economies as well. Nowadays, individual investors see investment-grade Mexican debt as a low-risk way to add higher yield to their corporate bond portfolios, and Mexico is taking advantage of this appetite by offering $1.5 billion in InterNotes. "[This demand] says a lot about Mexico's achievements in debt management," as

Already have an account?

    Forgot your password?

Free trial

Take a free two-week trial now for the latest news, data and market analysis.

Free Trial