Spain: bonds, indices, credit ratings

Spain is a country located in Southwestern Europe, bordered by Portugal to the west, France and Andorra to the north, Gibraltar to the south, and Morocco in the North Africa. Its territory is divided into 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities. The country’s capital is Madrid. The currency unit is euro (EUR). The main sectors of the country's economy are service sector, manufacturing industry, and construction.

Spanish government securities are represented by STRIPS, Treasury Bills (discount securities with the maturity of 3, 6, 9 or 12 months), medium-term bonds (interest bearing securities with the maturity of 2-5 years), long-term bonds (interest bearing securities with the maturity more than five years). The nominal of medium-term and long-term bonds, in its turn, may be indexed by inflation. Government securities are placed through public auctions organized by the Ministry of Finance of Spain or by syndicate of investment banks. Public sector also includes securities issued by municipal governments.

The private sector is represented by commercial papers (discount short-term securities), medium-term and long-term bonds (securities with the maturity more than one year), foreign bonds («matador», securities issued by non-resident entities on the Spanish market), covered bonds (securities collateralized against a pool of assets and issued by credit institutions), structured products, and securitization. The instruments of corporate sector are placed by investment banks.