Americas

Potential bond issuers from Argentina continue to work on new deals despite fears from bankers and investors that the buy-side is beginning to tire of issuance from the country.

Increasing calls for insurers to divest from companies with a large proportion of coal-fired generation activities could prompt a sell-off of certain utility company bonds, according to a report by bond research firm CreditSights.

US domestic issuers peppered the dollar market across the capital structure with a flurry of smaller deals this week that were gobbled up by yield-hungry investors and rounded off a strong month for issuance.

Chilean state-owned oil company Empresa Nacional de Petróleo (Enap) will look to tap the bond markets next week to fund a buyback of existing debt as Latin American companies continue to turn to tender offers just as often as the new issue market.

Unilever this week smashed the record for the lowest coupon on a 10 year dollar deal issued by a European borrower as it jumped into the market ahead of blockbuster prints from Verizon and Apple.

Citigroup has issued on Thursday an unusual €374m bond, exchangeable into shares of Telekom Austria, as part of a deal that enabled América Móvil to reduce its stake in the company, fulfilling an earlier promise, without suffering a big fall in the share price.

ISDA’s Determinations Committee has scheduled an auction to resolve credit default swaps referencing Puerto Rico, while in a separate auction dealers settled a low final price on Portugal Telecom International Finance contracts.

Rating: A2/A/AA-

Intercontinental Exchange has appointed a founding member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee as a director of ICE Benchmark Administration.

Financiera Independencia (Findep), the Mexican microfinance lender, has given bondholders an extra two weeks to earn the early bird fee on its tender offer despite receiving a strong initial response.

An auction to settle senior credit default swaps referencing the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico will take place on August 17, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association’s Determinations Committee has agreed, following the US territory’s failure to pay credit event.

The costs incurred to centrally clear derivatives trades could be greater than transacting them bilaterally, US government researchers have argued, in findings that would deal a blow to regulators’ attempts to curb systemic risk in the global market.