Americas

Banco do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (Banrisul), the 10th largest bank in Brazil, is approaching international bond investors for the first time since 2012 as it looks to return to markets with a tier two bond issuer.

Credit Suisse has promoted Ted Michaels, its head of North America renewables in New York, to a new global position overseeing investment banking in renewables and sustainable energy technology.

This week in Keeping Tabs: a key weekend for Germany's future, and Biden's stimulus plan.

Colombia’s public credit head told GlobalCapital that the sovereign had wanted to move quickly to get ahead of potential volatility as it printed $2.84bn of new bonds this week as part of a liability management operation. The official said that the early-year sell-off in US Treasuries had not tainted what was a strong issuance window.

Four heavily oversubscribed Latin American new issues fetched tight pricing on Thursday, dispelling the unease felt at the week’s start and putting the region firmly on track to fulfil the predictions of record primary volumes for a January.

Colombia tapped international bond markets for the first time since June this week. But it is the country's domestic bond market — which is 25% owned by foreign investors — that could be in for a particularly notable year, with the sovereign set to turn to pesos for its debut green bond in July. It is also laying the ground for a social bond and a government bond ETF.

The dollar corporate bond market has a more subdued feel this week, after its stellar start to the year, as US issuers are moving into earnings blackouts. But even as politics took centre stage as Congress moved to impeach President Donald Trump for the second time, ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, corporate borrowers quietly churned out deals.

Electric vehicle manufacturer Nio raised $1.3bn from a dual-tranche convertible bond this week, while trimming its existing debt with a concurrent buyback.

Just over a week after it reopened EM bond markets with a dollar deal, Mexico is turning to euros for a dual tranche new issue as part of a liability management exercise.

The Dominican Republic raised $2.5bn across two tranches amid an improving tone in EM bond markets on Wednesday, providing an encouraging sign to the several Latin American credits expected to price before the week is over.

A number of top staff at Natixis's corporate and investment banking division have started new jobs, the latest moves in a bout of seat hopping at the top table in this part of the bank.

A trio of SSA issuers pulled off another string of successful deals in the dollar market on Wednesday, with issuers able to push the envelope on pricing more than is usually possible in January.