Repatriate games

The Homeland Investment Act, a bill currently being debated in Congress, would permit US firms to repatriate any earnings from foreign subsidiaries at a special low tax rate. Saskia Scholtes asks what impact the bill may have on the credit markets

Thus far, 2004 has been a quiet year for the credit markets. Aside from the debacle at Italian dairy giant Parmalat, preparation for the inevitable rise in interest rates, and efforts to eke out incremental returns in a still-tight spread environment, market participants have spent much of the year speculating over what the next big event will be. Analysts say that such an event may now be upon us in the shape of the Homeland Investment Act (HIA), part of a broader tax bill to replace a $4