BondMarker: Alberta outdoes EIB in dollar fives battle

Craig McGlashan

November 06, 2018 03:00 PM

The Province of Alberta pipped the European Investment Bank to the top score of the week in BondMarker, with both issuers printing five year dollar globals.

Alberta’s $2.25bn deal, along withEIB’s $3bn trade the only deals to be scored in the week commencing October 22, took an overall average of 7.93. Its best category was quality of investor distribution, which took 8.13.

EIB scored an overall average of 6.90, with the deal let down on timing and structure/maturity, both on 6.67. On-looking bankers at the time said they were surprised EIB had opted for a five year trade.

One banker at the time said he thought EIB should have been able to price at 5bp rather than 6bp over mid-swaps, but BondMarker voters seemed to disagree, giving the trade a 7.00 for pricing.

Last week’s deals — EAA’s $1bn three year, Hamburg’s €1.25bn 20 year, KfW’s €5bn five year, OeKB’s $1bn five year and SEK’s $1bn three year — are available for scoring until Thursday this week.

Japan’s SSAs bounce back as funding conditions stabilise

Japan’s major government-backed borrowers issued well-supported international bonds during the fiscal year that ended in March, after putting the previous torrid year behind them. Navigating an increasingly volatile rates environment was not easy, but Japan’s SSAs made transactions successful by prioritising investor communication, transparency, and selling environmental, social and governance linked bonds. GlobalCapital brought together some of the country’s leading SSA issuers and deal managers for a roundtable in mid-March, to discuss their approach to fundraising in the past year, the likely implications of a change in the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy and the increasingly mainstream nature of ESG bonds.

Japan’s landmark transition bond opens debate for more

Japan’s environmental, social and governance bond market took a big leap forward this year when the government issued the world’s first sovereign transition bond, with much success. The journey was long and involved collaboration across ministries, as well as plenty of behind-the-scenes communication with global and domestic investors. But the deal has made the country a clear frontrunner in what is set to be an arduous journey for the world in its transition away from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources. GlobalCapital brought together speakers from the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry — as well as other issuers, investors and dealmakers — for a roundtable in March to talk about what’s next for Japan’s ESG market and how its transition bond could serve as a template for other countries.