Americas

Funding officials said green bonds had stimulated other sustainability work across their organisations at the Climate Bonds Initiative conference in London on Tuesday.

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) was this week obliged to pay a generous new issue premium for its second euro benchmark of the year, reflecting weaker credit conditions, investor indigestion and its desire to issue in large size.

Fitch Ratings said on Tuesday that Vrio Corp, AT&T’s Latin American subsidiary, was planning a $1.5bn international bond issue half denominated in Argentine pesos.

Equity markets took a hit this week in the wake of revelations that big data political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, managed to obtain data from millions of Facebook profiles, sparking concerns about possible government-led crackdowns on data and tech companies around the world.

US health insurer Cigna has agreed a $26.7bn bridge loan from two banks as part of its deal to buy Express Scripts, in a transaction lenders say highlights how deep liquidity is in the market.

Celse (Centrais Electricas de Sergipe), the Brazilian energy company, has begun an investor roadshow ahead of the planned issuance of Brazilian real-denominated notes backed by Swiss Export Risk Insurance (Serv).

Brazilian meatpacker Minerva will hit the road on Wednesday ahead of a planned new perpetual bond issue that will pay for a tender offer of the company’s existing perps.

Funding for leveraged buyouts in the European primary high yield market gained further share of overall issuance this week, as specialty car parts maker LKQ of Chicago sold a €1bn bond for its acquisition of German peer Stahlgruber.

Investment grade borrowers have taken their feet off the early refinancing pedal, as they bet that benign loan market conditions will continue despite the upheaval expected in the bond markets in the coming months.

The auto finance arm of General Motors opted for shorter maturities to try to ensure the success of its first bond sale of 2018 on Monday. But the €1bn dual-tranche deal only received orders of €1.7bn and the lead managers were only able to tighten one of the tranches from initial price thoughts.

The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has warned his international colleagues that while “crypto-assets do not pose risks to financial stability” now, this could change should the asset class become more “interconnected” with the regulated financial system.

China’s OneSmart International Education Group opened books for its $211.9m IPO of American Depository Shares (ADS) on Monday.