For trainees and junior lawyers · English & EU law

Debt Capital Markets

A family-owned cold-storage group issues its first bond and lists it in Dublin. You act for the company.

How a company borrows from investors with its first bond, taught through one prospectus, clause by clause.

The inside of the common safekeeper's vault, drawn straight on: a long bank of steel drawers runs in from the left, every one shut but one. That deep drawer, in the middle of the bottom row, is pulled open, and standing in it, taller than the bank, is one piece of paper in a clear sleeve: the global note, the single document behind the whole bond issue. Its text is grey lines; at the foot, the issuer's signature on the left and, on the right, one fresh stroke in copper: the authentication that makes the paper the Notes. Beside it in the drawer stands a ruled ledger card with one entry. Over the drawer's front edge hang a pair of thick quilted cold-store gloves with knitted cuffs. A plain lamp hangs from the ceiling.

You will be able to:

  • Read a bond’s terms and say what each condition does
  • Explain what the company and its investors each want, and why
  • Follow a bond from first draft to listing and its first payment

10 chapters with tests · a final exam · a certificate · about 3 hours in all · published 14 October 2026

Start Chapter 1

Chapters

Module 1

The Deal

Module 2

The Terms

Module 3

The Prospectus and Who May Buy

Module 4

Closing and After

One case runs through every chapter: a family-owned cold-storage group issues its first bond. Read the full prospectus →

Glossary: every term in plain English · Final exam: 30 questions, open book