Americas

The Petrobras corruption scandal continues to trouble the firm's business partners as Odebrecht Offshore Drilling Finance received another downgrade on Friday following the September cancellation of the ODN Tay IV contract.

Mexican government-owned development lender Nafin (Nacional Financiera) became the first Latin American financial institution to sell a green bond on Thursday in what one banker said was a landmark deal for the product in the region.

Peru on Tuesday became the latest Latin American sovereign to issue in euros and more could be on the way as the region’s borrowers look to make their mark in Europe in case dollar markets become more expensive.

Swiss insurer Ace Group printed the US market's biggest insurance deal of the year with a $5.3bn four trancher to help finance its $28.3bn acquisition of Chubb.

Abysmal quarterly earnings from Shell and other producers have left traders in oil futures trying to gauge whether the worst is over.

Procter & Gamble, the US consumer goods company, brought a €1.25bn bond issue to the European market on Tuesday, bringing life to an otherwise moribund reverse Yankee market.

Microsoft led a stampede by high grade borrowers to the dollar bond market this week as the latest Fed meeting pointed to the chance that it may raise rates in December.

As overall credit market liquidity has eroded, total return swaps (TRS) are providing an alternative for market participants to access or hedge their corporate bond exposure, according to financial information services provider Markit.

The US Federal Reserve this week appeared to move closer to raising its key policy rate in December but the shift in tone drew little reaction from options and futures markets.

Goldman Sachs and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust raised $500m of five year funding this week using a novel triple recourse special purpose vehicle called SumitG.

Public sector borrowers have jumped on demand for Brazilian real notes with a flurry of medium term notes — and there is more in the pipeline, said niche currency and MTN bankers.

Brazilian meatpacker Marfrig has completed a tender offer on four of its bonds, spending just over $400m of the $1.21bn in cash it received from the sale of its UK subsidiary on the buyback.