(Bloomberg) -- Only half of loan investors believe their instruments have robust fallback language designed to ensure a smooth transition from the London interbank offered rate, according to a recent survey from Barclays Plc.

Moreover some 78% of respondents are also concerned about the impact of different fallback terms for loans and collateralized loan obligations, which risk creating a mismatch between assets and liabilities once the reference rate is phased out.The responses shine a light on how much work is left to be done in the $1.2 trillion leveraged loan market just six months ahead of the deadline to ditch Libor for all new deals. One reprieve for bankers and borrowers is that existing loans can continue using the discredited benchmark for a further 18 months, after regulators last year acquiesced amid financial stability concerns.“There is still a lack of consensus regarding both the replacement rate and pricing effects heading into the transition,” Barclays strategists led by Bradley Rogoff wrote in the report.

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Roughly two-thirds of survey respondents indicated they had no major preference when it comes to selecting an alternative reference rate, so long as its adoption is consistent across markets.

U.S.

There are no borrowers looking to sell U.S. investment-grade bonds Friday, Weekly volume is poised to wrap up at $21.6 billion, in line with projections calling for about $20 billion.

  • With the Independence Day holiday approaching, preliminary estimates suggest a subdued week of issuance ahead with $10 billion to $15 billion anticipated.
  • Wall Street is packaging leveraged loans into bonds at a record pace, stretching bankers, lawyers and debt graders to the limit while showing no signs of slowing.
  • Junk bond issuance resumed in force this week after a brief pause, with companies pricing $8.6 billion through Thursday, pushing June’s volume to almost $34 billion

Europe

New bond sales in Europe are about to break past 1 trillion euros ($1.19 trillion) for 2021 as issuers swarm the market at breakneck speed for the second year running.

  • Kommunekredit tapped its bond due 2024, while PRS Finance re-opened a security maturing in 2026
  • Volume for the week will exceed 37 billion euros, meeting expectations of the majority of respondents to a Bloomberg survey
  • Italy’s government is working to improve the terms of a deal to sell Monte Paschi to UniCredit, with the package potentially including additional tax benefits and guarantees to shield the new owner from legal risks
  • Europe’s top banking supervisor EBA warned lenders against using bonds tied to sustainable targets to meet regulatory capital requirements, since missing those goals could pose a risk to financial stability

Asia

Sales of Asia-ex Japan dollar bonds jumped from their lowest weekly volume in a month, led by a $2 billion deal by Export-Import Bank of Korea.

  • Issuance more than doubled to $6.81 billion from $2.84 billion in previous week, Bloomberg-compiled data shows
  • At least sixteen borrowers sold debt; BCEG HongKong Co. Ltd. and CK Property Finance each raised $600 million, placing them behind the Korean lender

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