Boarding the bond wagon

According to Capital Data Bondware, western European corporates issued bonds worth $43.4 bn in the year to the end of April, compared to just $19 bn for the same period the previous year (see tables, page 67). Add to that a recent report from credit rating agency Moody's Investor Service showing that newly assigned ratings more than doubled over the course of last year and you might come to the conclusion that European corporates are gaining ratings as an essential step toward raising more