Americas

The European Investment Bank delivered 2020’s first Sonia bond on Wednesday, adding to a streak of hot deals in sterling. The second Sonia deal is set to follow on Thursday.

RBC Capital Markets has continued the development of its leveraged finance business by hiring Craig Campbell from HSBC.

UBS is ramping up collaboration between its investment bank and its wealth management unit, as it seeks to find more revenue opportunities from its client base of wealthy individuals and family offices.

Equity investors were hopeful that the tension between the US and Iran will lessen after the latter responded to the former's assassination of its military commander Qasem Soleimani with a limited tactical strike against US bases in the Middle East.

Santander’s Chilean arm on Tuesday joined the early wave of dollar issuers from the country, pricing a $750m five senior unsecured bond 2bp inside where state-owned Banco del Estado de Chile sold an identical trade a day earlier.

Termocandelaria Power Limited, the Colombian generation company, is seeking to add up to $200m to its existing bonds and has mandated two banks to lead the reopening.

The world’s largest copper producer, Codelco, returned to bond markets on Tuesday with a well received $2bn dual tranche as predictions that Chilean issuers would be very active in January begin to look very accurate.

Luckin Coffee, China’s answer to Starbucks, has launched a combined follow-on offering and convertible bond issue to raise up to $821m.

The noise about how capitalism is changing to a system in which social purpose is restored to the centre of companies' and investors' aims is now deafening. But look below the surface and the actual governance record of many companies and investors is dreadful. Most shareholders are too supine even to defend their own rights.

Equity market participants were stunned last Friday after the US assassinated Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. It followed what had been a strong end to 2019 in the market with many hopeful the momentum would carry into this year. But banks and investors need to be prepared for shocks, especially as domestic pressure on US president Donald Trump increases in the run up to November's election.

A strong response to its tender offer allowed Mexico to increase the size of its new 10 year issued on Monday from $1.75bn to $3.05bn late on in the evening as bankers say that the deal shows investors are calm about the country’s prospects.

Coca-Cola Femsa, the world’s largest franchised Coca-Cola bottler, is looking to sell new bonds to fund a buy-back of existing debt as Latin America issuers waste no time in taking advantage of a liquidity-rich bond market.