Bookrunner syndicate geography and the quality of service: The benefits of a local team

•The geography of bookrunner syndicates affects the quality of service provided to bond issuing firms.•Syndicates with a higher share of domestic bookrunners obtain lower at-issue credit spreads for issuing firms.•Tranches issued during the financial crisis and the eurozone crisis periods drive these findings.•Both certification and placement roles become important to bond issuers in these crisis periods characterised by high information asymmetry.