Geschäftsbericht 2015, englisch

13 management report issues rose to € 144.6 billion in 2015 or by 24 percent over the previous year’s figure. German issuers once again represented the biggest group of issuers. It is likely that this development was assisted by attractive issuance levels and the ECB’s covered bond purchase programme. The foreign exchange markets saw the US dollar rise over the euro and especially during the first quarter. Changes in the exchange rate were less pronounced during the remaining course of the year as the euro moved in a range between 1.05 and 1.15 US dollar. The value of the euro vis-à-vis the British pound fluctuated more mod- erately as it stood at 0.74 GBP at year-end, or only 4 pence less than it was at the start of the year. Following the surprise revalu- ation of the Swiss franc in January, the euro was able to strengthen in the second half of the year and closed out the year at 1.09 CHF, or about 10 percent over the low point recorded in January 2015. There was also greater volatility in the stock markets. The DAX rose by 9.6 percent over the course of the year, which was a good per- formance compared to other equity markets around the world. However, after reaching an all-time high of almost 12,400 points, the DAX fell sharply in late summer and then again in the autumn due to the slowdown of growth in China which stoked fears con- cerning the state of the Chinese economy. The German Pfandbrief continued to set standards in Europe and traded at the lowest spreads compared to other covered bonds. Yields fell to historic lows due to the ECB’s bond purchasing pro- gramme and its interest rate policy. Signs of private investors being squeezed out of the markets by the ECB were also increasingly visible in the Pfandbrief market. The volume of benchmark euro Source: Bloomberg (closing rate) Figures in % | yield on ten-year bunds 2015 January February March April May June July August September October November December 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.6 0.8 1.0

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