Barclays

State Bank of India has decided to increase the size of its loan to $420m from the original $300m, after 14 banks jumped on the transaction. But with a general launch still planned, it is likely to increase even further.

Syndicate bankers are primed for a busy period in dollars next week following the smooth execution of four benchmarks in the currency this week despite uncertainty and volatility caused by the situation in Ukraine.

Teollisuuden Voima, the Finnish nuclear power generator, launched a blowout bond issue on Tuesday that showed once again how any issuer perceived as having somewhat more risk, and therefore offering a wider spread, is attracting substantial demand.

British American Tobacco raised €1bn in the bond market on Monday, completing a hat-trick of deals by the three leading European cigarette makers. The transaction’s heavy oversubscription suggested there had been no impact either from the clustering of tobacco issuance, or from Russia’s alarming intervention in Ukraine.

Premier Foods priced the high yield bond component of its recapitalisation package at the tight end of guidance on Thursday, while increasing the deal, amid rampant demand for risky debt.

Covered bond disclosure has come on leaps and bounds over the past few years, but this week it took a humble sellside analyst to tell teams of industry specialists that, despite all their strenuous efforts, they had got it wrong.

Mexican financial Crédito Real attracted a bumper book for only the second LatAm dollar issue since January 31 on Thursday afternoon though more supply is needed to quench the market’s thirst for paper, according to traders.

Relations between the US and Russia reached their worst pitch of tension for 25 years this week – yet for the corporate bond market, blue sky stretched to the horizon.

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

Rating: Aa1/AA/AA+

Covered bond national transparency templates do not comply with standards in the EU’s Capital Requirements Regulation, according to Barclays covered bond research, despite improvements in disclosure. If covered bonds do not meet this standard, bank investors cannot apply preferential risk weights, boosting the cost of holding covered bonds.

Promsyvazbank (PSB) postponed its tier two dollar bond on Monday because of growing tension between Russian and Ukraine, but the borrower has every intention of returning to market once conditions improve. The Republic of Azerbaijan, meanwhile, has pushed on with investor meetings although it will likely face higher spreads for its inaugural dollar sale unless the situation is resolved soon.