Americas

General Motors Financial, the financing subsidiary of the US automotive giant, hit the European corporate bond market with speed on Wednesday as it issued a benchmark transaction.

The Province of British Columbia will dip into the Masala bond market for the first time with a January 2020 bond on Thursday.

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei) ventured into Taiwan’s Formosa bond market for the third consecutive year, raising Rmb700m ($105m) from a three year note.

Symbiont, a startup technology firm specialising in smart contracts and distributed ledgers for financial markets, has named a former Morgan Stanley senior banker as president and chairman of its board of directors.

Coca-Cola came for euros on Tuesday with a 20 year bond that was priced aggressively, as a slug of borrowers took aim at the market.

HSBC Private Bank in the US has chosen a former EMEA DCM head at the group to lead its investment services and product solutions.

Fitch placed recession-hit Ecuador’s B rating on negative outlook at the end of last week but bond investors took little notice as the sovereign’s 2022s, issued in late July, reached 11 points above par.

The outlook for euro-denominated primary covered bond volumes may be revised lower over the course of this year as cheap dollar senior unsecured funding and negative euro yields hinder prospects.

Wednesday’s announcement from Colombia’s government that it had successfully concluded peace talks with the FARC guerrilla group after more than 50 years of war comes just as the sovereign lines up a prefinancing issue in dollars.

Pesquera Exalmar, the Peruvian fishmeal farm, has extended the deadline of a tender offer and consent solicitation on its 7.375% bonds due 2020 from August 19 to August 30 as it seeks bondholder approval for a new senior secured loan.

Latin America global local currency issuance, one of the biggest casualties of the so-called 'taper tantrum' that rocked EM bond markets in 2013, is back on the agenda as dollar yields plummet.

A requirement looming next week for major banks in the US to begin posting initial margin on uncleared swaps has prompted a chaotic scramble to comply with the deadline, said observers, while also elevating concerns about the preparedness of the rest of the market to meet future mandates. Dan Alderson reports.