US Wrap: Barclays and ABN pile into reverse convertibles

Barclays Bank and ABN Amro bombarded the US market with reverse convertible notes yesterday, launching 20 of the products between them. It was ABN's first appearance of the week, and its first significant swathe of issuance since mid-February. It outstripped Barclays by launching 12 of the notes on offer, but the UK bank still remains the leader in reverse convertible market share, offering 101 notes in total this year against ABN's 81.

Some surprising themes were on offer, such as retail through exposure to the stock of Lowe's and Target, the US consumer chains. A loose play on the agriculture theme was represented by a note linked to cereal producer Archer Daniels Midland. Reverse convertible staple stocks, such as Apple, Microsoft and Caterpillar also made appearances.

Issuer

Product type

Underlying

Pricing date

Maturity date

Barclays Bank PLC

Reverse Convertible

Ingersoll Rand Co

Mar 26 2009

Jun 30 2009

Barclays Bank PLC

Reverse