Bank of America

Five FIG issuers took to the subordinated markets to take advantage of months of undersupply this week, with the results highlighting not just the feverish grab for yield but also just how far banks have come since the crisis of 2008 in building their capital levels.

Yankee banks returned to the dollar fray with opportunistic trades from Barclays and Westpac, with the UK bank mirroring a recent trend in euro deals by printing a long dated bond.

Rabobank and Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel are taking full advantage of one of the best windows for subordinated issuance so far this year to print €4.2bn equivalent in tier two capital across three deals, as total European FIG issuance this week surpasses the €10bn mark.

The Republic of Korea will meet investors next week and the week after for a proposed dollar deal, in what is set to be a record year for sovereign bond issuance in the region.

Bankia is looking to push Spain’s recovery story another step forward, taking to the subordinated tier two market to raise loss absorbing capital as the bank nears the two year anniversary of its bailout by the Spanish government.

Encouraging Indian election exit poll results, a recent rating upgrade and rarity value helped Bharti Airtel price a jumbo dual currency dual tranche issue on Monday. Voracious investor appetite enabled the issuer to price flat to its existing curve, but ample leftover demand could see a replay of the hefty taps the issuer made on its debut dollar and euro bonds last year.

Investors are opening up their portfolios to longer duration bonds after the ECB signaled it is likely to cut its benchmark rate in June, and BNP Paribas is taking hold of that demand to sell a 10 year senior bond on Monday.

Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel launched transactions into two currencies on the same day. The issuer opened the books for a ten year dollar issue on Monday morning and a few hours later, it hopped over to the euro market where it opened the books for a seven year offering at the London opening.

Online retailer JD.com is setting its sights on a $1.7bn Nasdaq listing having started receiving bids for the largest US flotation yet of a Chinese tech firm on May 12. The timing of JD.com’s deal comes hot on the heels of the much publicised IPO application by rival Alibaba, but bankers on the trade have dismissed it as nothing but a coincidence.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government came back to the market on Monday with a five year issue. The trade has gotten off to a strong start, with books oversubscribed half an hour after opening.

China’s Tianhe Chemicals Group started talking to investors in regards to a Hong Kong IPO on May 12, which could be worth around $1bn, according to bankers on the trade.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has appointed Patrick Porritt as the lender’s new head of Asia Pacific Financing Institutions Group (FIG), according to an internal memo seen by GlobalCapital Asia on May 9.