No. 190: Brexit and European Corporate Bond Markets

We investigate the impact of Brexit on the corporate bond market by analyzing a comprehensive database covering corporate bond listings on European and UK trading venues. We find a significant shift in bond market activity, evidenced by a 49% increase in the number of bond listings in the EEA30 countries relative to the UK market after Brexit. Country-level analyses reveal a staggered effect on market activity, with predominantly international issuers adjusting their bond listings between the initially scheduled Brexit date and the final withdrawal date. At the issuer level, our findings indicate that the relative attractiveness of the EEA30 market has increased post-Brexit. Overall, these results suggest that the European capital market has successfully adapted to the loss of its largest financial center and exhibits a rising corporate bond market activity.