Corporate Bonds - The New Frontier for Corporates in Albania

Despite teh fact that the Albanian economy and its business & banking system weathered an indirect shock, in the course and in the aftermath of the global financial and economic crisis of 2008, it revealed the characteristic phenomenon of cartel-like financing, of the economy and Albanian companies, by the banking system. This source of financing, as derived from an oversized and wholly bank–based economy, conveys all the issues and risks, accompanying the banking system activity, towards companies as borrowers, especially in times of economic contraction, in the form of tightened lending terms & conditions and lacking cost-effective and competitive financing terms. This paper addresses the importance of corporate bonds as a long-term source of finance and proposes their issuance, as a still-absent, but efficient & competitive alternative source of financing, for medium and large-sized enterprises in Albania, given the first signs of an emerging interest for bonds’ public issuance. Also, theoretical and practical advantages, regarding corporate bonds’ issuance, are mentioned in the paper, which could be easily energized and implemented by Albanian companies, in the frame of the existing legal environment in Albania