Americas

Central American multilateral Cabei (Central American Bank for Economic Integration) has issued a request for proposal (RFP) for a potential first dollar benchmark since 2012, Latin American bond market participants told GlobalCapital.

Peripheral and UK covered bonds have weakened amid broader deterioration in credit market conditions. But with activity muted the main focus is on Tuesday’s Euromoney/ECBC Covered Bond Forum in Toronto.

In this round up, the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) is planning to publish a list of ‘unreliable entities’, clearly echoing the US’s ‘entities list’, the State Council issued a white paper detailing China’s stance on trade tensions, and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) said its takeover of Baoshang is a ‘one-off’.

Spreads on Latin American bonds widened sharply on Friday after US president Donald Trump said he would enforce tariffs on Mexican imports, with recent issues from the region losing ground.

In this round up, China floated rare earth exports as a weapon in its trade war with the US, May’s PMI fell across the board and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) activated a fund to protect domestic depositors’ savings

Sub-investment grade sovereign Dominican Republic clinched a 30 year dollar deal with a slim concession and sold a local currency tranche on top as Latin American DCM bankers say risk appetite remains high despite broader market volatility.

A committee of Barbados bondholders claiming to own over 55% of the island nation’s US dollar bonds has warned the government that it will reject any “unilateral offer” that may emerge from restructuring negotiations.

Chile is looking to become the first sovereign from Latin America to issue a green bond, finance minister Felipe Larraín said on May 30.

MasterCard ventured into volatile markets on Tuesday to print its first bond since February 2018, but investors paid the price as spreads widened.

US utilities continued to dominate dollar corporate bond issuance this week, as defensive names piled into the market before trade tensions slammed the brakes on supply on Wednesday. But issuers fought back on Thursday.

A quartet of public sector borrowers placed paper in the Australian dollar market this week. Two European SSAs priced sustainable and climate awareness bonds: the European Investment Bank priced its third climate awareness Kangaroo on Tuesday, while Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten brought its sustainability bond programme back to the Aussie market on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a pair of agencies raised funding in Australian dollars on Thursday: Export Development Canada and Eurofima both tapped Kangaroos.

A rough day for the corporate bond market on Wednesday did not bother Illinois Tool Works, which pressed ahead with its three tranche euro bond issue anyway. Focused on the yields, it did not mind paying higher spreads. Bankers said this was typical of the continuing wave of Reverse Yankee issuers.