Americas

Standard & Poor’s downgraded Costa Rica from BB to BB- on Friday, keeping the sovereign’s rating on negative outlook as the Central American country’s public finances come under pressure.

Hypermarcas, the Brazilian pharmaceutical company, will not extend the early bird deadline on the tender offer for its 6.5% senior notes due 2021 after bondholders responded positively to the buy-back offer.

Royal Bank of Canada demonstrated the health of the primary covered bond market on Friday when it priced a €1.5bn deal that offered a minimal new issue concession. And with only one week to go before the European Central Bank’s policy meeting, other issuers will be keen to join apoBank, which mandated leads for a deal.

Lat Am bond bankers said the seven banks understood to have led Argentina’s repo trade in December were the strongest candidates to lead the sovereign’s seemingly imminent re-entry into international capital markets.

Not all emerging markets bond bankers may agree with the strategy — with certain deal-hungry New York dealers particularly vociferous in their opposition — but Latin American sovereigns are placing increasing faith in the euro market for their international funding, writes Oliver West.

The high yield market, desperate for some good news, was left waiting by the phone on Thursday as Solera Holdings' $2bn of notes were said to be struggling to get priced, even though they offered a 11% yield.

Coal is about the most basic commodity. It has become deeply unfashionable in recent years, tarred as the worst culprit in global warming. The charge may be true, but the accusations are so vehement partly because promoters of other hydrocarbons — oil, gas, biofuels — want to disguise their own responsibility.

The US FIG market rebounded sharply this week as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial exploited a favourable market backdrop and printed the first TLAC eligible senior trade from a Japanese bank.

Johnson & Johnson and Cisco Systems led an issuance blitz by top rated US blue chips this week as the dollar market enjoyed strong momentum. More than $23bn of corporate issuance came in four sessions.

The industry-wide unsupported exposure of the derivatives market to collateral settlement failure is $27bn for sellside firms alone, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation said this week.

Two new derivative products that were launched this week suggest an increased focus on alternative sources of beta and exposure to risk premiums.

Royal Bank of Canada reported a C$24m year-on-year decrease in profits from its capital markets division on Wednesday, as debt origination declined and the bank increased provisions against its oil and gas exposure.