These days, there is a third path to bond investors

Put simply, bond issuance used to be a choice between a local effort – through the local infrastructure for local investors – or global note issue  through one of the two international CSDs, with subsequent trading typically in Luxembourg or Dublin.

Complicated paying agent agreements are one of the drivers of the disturbing legal cost that global issuance has been associated with. This is one of the reasons some issuers might have reason to speak with their local CSD even if the target investors are foreign.

According to Bjørn Crepaz, there are few national-border limitations still in play (other than as myths, sometimes). He points out the de-coupling that has taken place between currency, CSD and trading venue. As an example he mentions Tryg, the Nordic insurance group, having issued a large bond in Swedish kronor, via the Danish CSD and listed for trade in Oslo.