Americas

Records tumbled in the US bond market this week, as Bank of America and Toronto Dominion set new pricing records.

US blue chips started to emerge from earnings blackouts this week and print tightly priced dollar bonds, as spreads continued to grind tighter.

Guarantor: CPP Investment Board

Credit Suisse has streamlined its investment banking and capital markets operation (IBCM) and is confident that it will return to form after a chastening 2019, writes David Rothnie.

The risk that huge amounts of oil and gas assets will be stranded by moves to tackle the climate emergency may be more pertinent for sovereign credit than for private sector corporate debt, according to new research.

Royal Bank of Canada’s £1.25bn five year covered bond issued at 47bp over Sonia on Thursday was the tightest and largest transaction to reference the rate ever issued by a bank from outside the UK. The depth of demand illustrated that the bid for Sonia products has grown.

There was a burst of activity from Chinese pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the equity capital markets this week, as the sector took centre stage following the spread of a flu-like virus that has already claimed lives on the mainland. Jonathan Breen reports.

The day after it sold €1.961bn of green bonds in the euro market, Chile jumped on borrower-friendly conditions in dollars to complete its higher than usual external funding needs for the year.

Banco Bradesco returned to international bond markets on Wednesday after an extended absence, and fellow Brazilian Eletrobras is also plotting a cross-border deal as US bond markets finally begin to look attractive for Brazilian issuers.

Telefónica Celular del Paraguay (TeleCel), the Paraguayan subsidiary of pan-EM telecoms group Millicom International Cellular, took advantage of a buzzing bond market to add $250m on Tuesday to a bond issued last April.

Investors said that Chile’s focus on green bonds should allow it to diversify its funding base as the sovereign shrugged off political uncertainty to clinch tight pricing on its return to euro markets on Tuesday.

Debt capital markets bankers said that the pricing Mexican state oil company Pemex achieved on a rare 40 year tranche was one of the highlights of a busy Tuesday in Latin American primary markets.