Investors placed bids for over $1 billion in Russian bonds at a Monday credit-default swap auction, according to the Wall Street Journal, as the US Treasury allows trading for one week to allow buyers to settle swap contracts.
The bids come three months after the sanctioned nation was adjudged in default for skipping creditor payments and two months after it defaulted on $100 million in foreign bondholder instalments.
Over the summer, American buyers had been barred by sanctions from buying Russian debt. The Treasury Department’s exemption allows US investors to buy and sell the bonds for seven days.
Investors that purchased or sold protection against a Russian default at the auction had a net interest in buying $500 million in debt. $1.3 billion in buy offers and $800 million in sell bids.
Goldman Sachs emerged as the only participating investment bank to put in a net positive order for Kremlin-backed bonds, as it placed a bid for more than $1.3 billion, according to the report.
To meet the $500 million gap between prospective buyers and sellers, outside investors holding Russian debt unloaded about $500 million of bonds, priced at about 56 cents on the dollar.
( Curtesy Market insider)
