BBVA

National Bank of Greece (NBG) has become the lowest rated bank to issue green debt, after winning two times as much demand as it needed for a €500m senior bond on Thursday. The trade formed part of a flurry of green issuance in the FIG market, alongside new deals from Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel and Mizuho Financial Group.

BBVA’s Mexican subsidiary, Bancomer, on Tuesday provided one of the clearest examples yet of the attractiveness of international bond markets for Latin American borrowers as it notched the lowest ever coupon on a dollar deal from a bank from the region.

BBVA’s Mexican subsidiary BBVA Bancomer is looking for its first international bond in a year after mandating banks to lead a senior unsecured deal.

Seven Yankee banks stole a march this week in the race to frontload funding, as September got off to its usual red-hot start in dollars.

Issuance in Europe’s high grade corporate market trended towards high beta names this week, with a spate of deals from riskier names, including the first outing for German fallen angel ZF Freidrichshafen since its downgrade.

Commerzbank did not pay a premium to launch its new additional tier one (AT1) this week, as it found strong demand at the long end of the curve. The bank was returning to the market just three months after its last deal in the format.

Orange, the French telecommunications company, has mandated for its debut sustainability bond, as some syndicate bankers said that there was evidence that demand for environmental and socially themed debt from corporates rated investment grade was reaching worrying levels.

The summer slowdown finally arrived in the US corporate bond market this week, with just a handful of issuers showing up before September's season truly begins — bringing what is expected to be a bumper crop of deals.

Europe’s high grade corporate market continued to offer plenty of demand for riskier structures this week, with multiple hybrids again taking up screen space.

Senior deals from Banco de Sabadell and Mediobanca underlined the pricing benefits of printing in green formats this week, with both coming inside conventional curves. Other issuers could be tempted to follow.

Daimler blasted far through its conventional bond curve with its €1bn debut green deal on Thursday, in a first for the European automotive industry that is expected to herald a spate of similar issuance — and could reset expectations about the difference between green and conventional bond pricing.

Corporate bond investors had another chance to pick up some spread on Tuesday after August had closed with a flurry of hybrids, with crossover trades from French nuclear power company Orano and Italian electricity company Enel.