Some of the hysteria surrounding the recent supposed “failure” of Banco Santander to call €1.5bn’s worth of bonds — to repay the debt earlier than necessary — is frankly incredible. It smacks a little of a slow news day that it has been accorded the press coverage that it has.
Non-tourists in this asset class have long assumed that these new-style AT1 bonds, i.e. those issued after May 2013, would only be called if it made economic sense to do so.
