Remember CoCos? Those pretty ugly convertible securities the banks have been issuing to provide bailable cushions in case of a solvency crisis? I covered them in a recent post on Deutsche here: http://trueeconomics.blogspot.com/2016/02/12216-deutsche-bank-crystallising.html.
Well, the Additional Tier 1 instruments have been issued primarily by European banking giants over the last 7 years and not surprisingly, by Irish banks too. Alas, Irish banks are not known for doing things in moderation, and so Per ValueWalk data, Irish banks have managed to issue some USD4.1 billion of this 'innovative' paper, which is the 5th largest issuance in the world... yes... FIFTH LARGEST in the WORLD.
