As we publish this, I will be in the glow of enjoying another birthday, and more so given it is half term with a few days’ break to spend with the family. At a time when the UK has experienced two major storms in consecutive days, we have a staycation! Typical.
The ulterior motive for some down time was to allow me to have some treatment on my deteriorating knees. I am sure if I was a horse I would be advised to visit the glue factory but for me I have just had a couple of injections to try and reduce some of the pain, allow the cartilage to deteriorate less, and to ensure some more lubrication. I managed not to faint when I saw the size of the syringe, and I am now looking forward to some recovery and getting ready for ski season. Just need to get through Guy Fawkes night and the probability of a distressed canine!
October for me at the LMA has been really satisfying, with the opportunity to travel to the LSTA Annual Conference and then our own Middle East conference. More on the Middle East later. Alas, despite my best efforts, I missed the ticketing window to see Harry Styles, although mitigated somewhat by some great company with some ex-colleagues.
Membership
We also had to take the decision to temporarily suspend our website following the news around PHP. This was to ensure we had carried out a thorough risk assessment and to protect the integrity of our website and supporting systems. Like the messaging on the loan markets, the LMA acted quickly, took measured risk, and delivered a return to business as usual. I would like to commend the work of Lalit, Rory, and Nico from our technology and change areas – quite often the unsung heroes keeping the show on the road.
As many of you have seen we have just opened membership renewal for 2027. We have decided to increase membership fees by 3% to reflect the ongoing operating cost of our work and business. We have not taken this decision lightly, but it is prudent given the significant increased costs of hosting events. Despite being into November, we are still seeing new members. Our membership is now at 907, with 85 new members joining this year. I have an ambition to reach 1000 members in 2027.
Loan Markets
October’s EMEA loan markets were characterised by strong liquidity, active refinancing and continued demand for good-quality credits, particularly in leveraged finance. Large transactions such as Bain’s roughly €4.7bn-equivalent Everllence financing and QNB’s $2.5bn syndicated loan showed that both institutional and bank markets remain capable of absorbing sizeable deals. Strong demand also supported amend-and-extend and repricing activity, with transactions such as team.blue and Plenergy upsized or tightened. The overall message was that credible borrowers continue to have good access to capital and, in some cases, meaningful pricing power.
At the same time, October produced a more visible risk and dispersion story. Investors began to focus more closely on the financing model behind AI and data-centre growth, particularly GPU-backed structures and the scale of leverage being accumulated around hyperscaler capex. Oracle spreads widened materially, while stress in names such as CoreWeave highlighted concerns around leverage, refinancing dependence and the durability of future cash flows. In Europe, Virgin Media O2 also came under pressure as concerns around its deleveraging path and expected asset-sale proceeds weighed on credit. Taken together, these developments suggest that liquidity remains abundant but is becoming more selective: strong credits can still refinance aggressively, while highly leveraged or structurally complex borrowers are seeing a much sharper reassessment of risk.
Europe saw the release of the securitisation regulatory update, and it was certainly pleasing to see many of the LMA recommendations ending in the final publication. This will support further demand for high-quality European securitisation. The LMA is also engaged in further work on CRD6 (Art 21c) and on the bank competitiveness regulation – nonperforming loans and leveraged loans. You can read the insights paper here.
Middle East
October saw our annual Middle East Conference in Dubai with the event being sandwiched by the launch of our Middle East Reg Tracker, the final launch of our Islamic Finance Transfer Certificate, and the announcement of the makeup of the 2027 Middle East Committee.
The conference saw over 400 registrants with really strong engagement and participation. Unsurprisingly the key themes centred on local geopolitics and the impacts on risk appetite, but also the financing and investment needs supporting the local infrastructure vision and securing resilient and robust economies.
We at the LMA were honoured to be invited to the Abu Dhabi Investment Forum in London, alongside several key partners of the UAE. We are also privileged to be invited to speak at the upcoming Abu Dhabi Finance Week, one of the key financial events in the Gulf.
Regulatory and supervisory engagement remains a key pillar of the LMA’s work. We also launched our first reg tracker, focussing on the GCC, to support our members and help the LMA engage, where possible, in shaping upcoming regulation affecting the loan markets. There is a wide range of focus points and developments to follow: the initial issue covered digital currency, private markets, resolution and enforcement, and fund formation.
And finally, the new Middle East Committee kicked off, and I am confident we have the right people representing the GCC to drive our work and priorities for 2027.
I hope to see some of you when I am back over for ADFW.
Events
As well as the Middle East Conference, we also carried out a Secondary Training Day in October, again with strong engagement but also challenge and a demand for providing best practise and counsel. Volumes in the secondary market continue to rise, putting pressure on settlement times and teams. Technology is of course helping but adoption is slow.
November sees our Sustainability Conference in Paris, our Agency Conference (being held for the first time in a number of years), our West Africa Conference and Training in Lagos, and our new Certification Course. I very much appreciate and value all those who are giving up their time to speak and contribute. Thank you.
I have a slightly left field event in November, and I am excited to be visiting Angola for the first time. This is a key event under the auspices of the IFC and augments the work and focus on the African markets being carried out by the LMA, specifically in Development Finance.
Amelia will be attending the IACPM event in Washington, very timely given the impending publication of our guidance and document on portfolio risk transfer. This is a material piece of work which will support more utilisation of this tool, and dispel some obstacles and misconceptions.
Our calendar for 2027 is currently being drawn up, so if there is anything you think we should cover or a location we should be at, please let me know.
Board
The Board and the LMA executive held a strategic offsite during the month covering our performance through 2026 but also looking at 2027 and through to 2029. I will look to update you all on the outcomes from this in our end-of-year- report.
The Junior Board has also seen material change, with a new election held and a changing of the guard. I look forward to the ongoing contribution of this group. To those standing down, thank you for your efforts over the first two years.
Closing
Overall, this has been a very productive and as always busy month across the LMA staff. I am looking to see as many of you as I can over the last few months of the year and will be looking forward to networking at the Agency Conference and the December Fund Finance Seminar. There are also several third-party events coming up as we all look forward to the Christmas season – we just need to get through November.
