Growth in the European corporate bond market in the past year or so has been breathtaking. But it is still not fast enough for many yield-hungry fixed-income investors who are increasingly turning to credit derivatives to gain exposure to companies and debt maturities not yet available in the bond markets.

European corporate borrowers, including Nordic and Eastern European firms, accounted for $165.5bn (€170.4bn) of bond issues in all currencies last year compared with $64.7bn in 1998, according to figures from UK research group Capital Data. Issuance for 2000 had already reached $44.7bn by the start of April.