Americas

Decisive economic measures from Ecuador’s government could help curry favour with bondholders ahead of a debt restructuring, said analysts, as Argentina provided an ideal template of what not to do.

The president of Grupo Energía de Bogotá (GEB) told GlobalCapital that the issuer’s faith in demand for its bonds had allowed it to tighten pricing sharply on its long-awaited return to bond markets last week, as the company waits for an improvement in domestic market conditions to continue its capital markets activity.

Belgium took advantage of more attractive funding conditions in dollars versus euros and strong demand at the 10 year point of the curve to sell its first dollar bond since 2017 on Tuesday. SSA supply in dollars will continue on Wednesday with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Nederlandse Waterschapsbank bringing socially responsible deals.

JP Morgan has announced a restructuring of its equity capital markets team, after a solid start to 2020.

Singapore-based online gaming company Sea has launched a $1bn convertible bond, following a surge in its share price after reporting strong first quarter earnings.

Analysts expect negotiations between Argentina and its foreign bondholders to continue past May 22, the date that the sovereign could enter default, with restructuring proposals from the creditors implying recovery values up to 50% higher than what the issuer initially proposed. But as both parties appear to be keen to find a solution, the bonds continued their rally on Monday.

Latin American development bank Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) began investor calls on Monday as it looks to sell a benchmark-sized euro denominated social bond to help fund its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Belgium is set to issue its first dollar bond since 2017 as euro funders continue to take advantage of the attractive funding conditions in the currency, with three other public sector borrowers also in the market for dollars.

JP Morgan announced a new set of leaders for its underwriting, coverage and M&A business on Monday, following a series of promotions in February.

European equities rallied sharply on Monday as little signs of secondary Covid-19 outbreaks emerged in the region over the weekend following the easing of lockdowns in many countries. Market sources expect that the renewed optimism is likely to lead to another strong week for equity capital markets transactions.

The pain that negative rates in dollars could cause money market funds hangs like an albatross around the US Federal Reserve’s neck. Talk of them has picked up over the last week as US Federal Funds Futures prices started to imply they were on their way, while president Donald Trump pushed the topic on Twitter, even though and Fed chair Jerome Powell appeared to rule them out.

ACI Airport Sudamérica, the operator of Uruguay’s largest airport, has received consent from its bondholders to delay a year of debt payments to help it through the Covid-19 pandemic — just weeks after creditors of its Argentine sister company achieved the same.