Americas

Morgan Stanley ventured north of the 49th parallel this week to visit a Maple bond market that is on course for its busiest year for financial institutions issuance since the 2008 financial crisis.

As sustainability-linked bond issuance gains momentum in emerging markets, questions are being asked about the product and its potential for innovation. The next iteration could see a feature already accepted in the loan market but not yet in bonds: a margin step-down.

Investment banks are broadening the search for talent and tweaking their recruitment message to attract and retain the bankers of the future, as working conditions and corporate culture emerge as hot topics after a difficult period for staff in the industry.

Export Development Canada (EDC) sold the first offshore Chilean peso bond of the year as it dropped into the currency in search of short dated borrowing earlier this week.

Aligning with a global commercial bank has been on Jefferies’ agenda for several years, but its alliance with SMBC signals an intent to join the investment banking big league. By David Rothnie.

Canada’s Equitable Bank covered programme received legislative approval this week, paving the way for a debut deal in the coming months.

Oi, the Brazilian telecom company, re-entered international debt markets this week to raise almost $1bn of short-dated paper.

The Province of Ontario received a strong reception in the Canadian dollar market on Tuesday, helping it to issue its biggest ever green bond in the currency.

Peru-headquartered San Miguel Industrias, known as SMI Group, which produces plastic packaging across Latin America, sold a sustainability-linked bond on Monday. The trade is the latest in a long string of Latin American issuers embracing the innovative format.

A sell-off in global equities at the beginning of last week, in response to the Delta-variant-fueled rise in Covid-19 cases, was largely erased in the following days. But the episode offered a glimpse of the disquiet in the market, and a hint as to the likely reaction if the pandemic were to take a course that put the brakes on economic growth.

NatWest Markets has given its head of emerging markets strategy, Alvaro Vivanco, an additional role as head of ESG macro strategy.

SMBC has beefed up its coverage of the technology sector with the addition of two senior bankers in San Francisco who previously worked together at HSBC.