Americas

The socially responsible investment market for public sector bond issuers is shaping up for another busy year, with one agency planning a debut print in the next few months.

Broadcom printed the biggest corporate trade of the year so far as yield hungry investors snapped up triple-B rated names ahead of US president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next week.

As many as eight covered bonds were launched across three currencies this week, the vaguely discernible pattern suggesting better interest for the larger deals with intermediate maturities and particularly those from non-eurozone issuers where liquidity is most likely to be better.

Investors saw Brazilian pulp and paper company Fibria Celulose’s new 10 year green bond pricing very tight to its existing curve, despite the company having to remove controversial covenant language after it proved unpopular with investors.

Four private sector corporates from Latin America sold dollar denominated bonds this week, although borrower-friendly market conditions were not enough to allow the issuers to get away with more aggressive covenant language.

Export Development Canada showed on Wednesday that despite some big deals this year in fives, there is still plenty of demand in the three year part of the dollar curve as it took the rare step of increasing a deal from its initial size target. The trade came as a trio of other dollar deals hit screens.

Wrangles over the future of euro interest rate swap clearing after Brexit were revived this week, with both European Central Bank president Mario Draghi and outgoing US Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair Timothy Massad suggesting that the EU should maintain oversight of the UK market. Meanwhile, two London-based executives argued that the UK should extend its EU exit process to five years to avoid losing swaps business to the US.

Tradeweb Markets, the New York based electronic fixed income, derivatives and exchange-traded fund marketplace operator, has unveiled a service that allows market participants to meet post-trade transparency requirements mandated by the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II).

Ernst & Young has appointed a head of global private equity to replace Jeffrey Bunder, who has moved to a US private equity firm.

Latin American issuers are leading the charge to primary markets this year so far in emerging market bonds but Wednesday saw the first CEEMEA issuer to open books as Israel tried a dual tranche 10 and 20 year trade.

The Republic of Ecuador’s thirst for new debt shows no sign of being quenched as the South American nation raised $1bn of bonds on Tuesday.

Both of Petrobras’ new benchmark bonds traded up more than a point the day after pricing as bankers said the level of demand for the deal would have allowed the company to print even more than the $4bn it managed on Monday.