Americas

British Airways issued its first sustainability-linked bond this week, something still very rare in the airline industry. It was one of only a handful of issuers that braved volatility to enter the US corporate bond market this week.

Long dated issuance returned to EM primary bond markets in force this week as DCM bankers said issuers were seeing the latest fall in US Treasury yields as a sign that they should accelerate funding plans. Although several investors remain cautious on the prospects for rates markets, the weight of cash to be put to work is set to keep funding conditions attractive for EM borrowers, writes Mariam Meskin and Oliver West.

CPPIB Capital

In 2016, JP Morgan launched a service to help its corporate clients fill board positions with directors well versed in corporate governance. Now, as board composition comes under ever greater scrutiny, the bank is expanding the offering into EMEA.

Chile began chipping away on Wednesday at the bumper funding needs it announced last week, raising €1.75bn ($2.1bn) in social bonds in the euro market as investors said the government, which still has the lowest debt to GDP ratio in Latin America, has space to print more.

Moelis & Company has hired senior equity syndicate banker Melissa Mariaschin from Barclays in New York as the boutique investment bank expands its capital markets capabilities.

Barclays has elevated Jean Francois (JF) Astier and John Miller to co-heads of investment banking as part of a raft of promotions in New York that also include the appointments of Kristin Roth DeClark and Taylor Wright as global co-heads of capital markets.

Mining firm Compañía de Minas Buenaventura sent a strong message about Peruvian companies’ access to capital markets on Tuesday, pricing its debut bond issue through guidance the day after Pedro Castillo — a leftist teacher who has pledged to hike taxes on miners and redraft the country’s constitution — was confirmed as Peru’s next president.

SMI Group, which makes plastic packaging in nine Latin American countries, began investor calls on Tuesday ahead of a proposed sustainability-linked bond.

Mexican state-owned utility Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) sold $850m of 12 year bonds on Tuesday on its second visit to international markets this year.

Robinhood’s mission to democratise stock markets is taking its inevitable next step with its own initial public offering, of which it says it will sell between 20% to 35% to retail investors. But while opening up the IPO investor base beyond the institutional investor clique sounds good in theory, such transactions remain extremely risky for retail investors.

CPPIB Capital, the issuing entity for Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, launched its first ever syndicated bond linked to the secured overnight financing rate on Tuesday, impressing onlookers with its size.