BMO Capital Markets

KfW was the only public sector borrower in the primary market on Monday, raising $1bn with a March 2021 intra-day trade which was priced with the same coupon as the World Bank’s 10 year dollar deal earlier this month.

Corporate, FIG and SSA issuers placed floating rate notes this week, pegged to Euribor, Sonia and Libor. With so many issuers coming to market, bankers are interested to see which other borrowers 'take advantage of the liquidity'.

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IDB Invest, the private sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank, failed to set the market alight with its debut fixed rate benchmark bond on Wednesday. There were no book updates and the trade was priced at the same level as initial price thoughts.

Two public sector borrowers rode out the tricky conditions in the dollar market on Wednesday to find good demand for new issues. US Treasury yields recorded sharp falls that were due to a range of factors, including the launch of a formal impeachment inquiry into US president Donald Trump.

Kommuninvest kicked off the dollar market this week with a $1.25bn blowout, despite it being at record tight levels over Treasuries, according to a banker on the deal. Following on from Kommuninvest’s deal, a wide range of SSAs look to print across the curve, including rare issuer IDB Invest with its five year dollar bond debut.

The Province of British Columbia has weathered volatility from the fallout of last week's meeting of the US Federal Reserve to return to the dollar market for the first time in four years. Another rare SSA issuer, IDB Invest, also plans a return to the dollar market, with investor calls set up for this week ahead of its five year debut.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was able to find good demand to increase the size of its outstanding August 2022 Sofr-linked floating rate note on Thursday, despite huge volatility in the US repo market.

While it is no surprise that a public sector borrower has brought the first floating rate note linked to the euro short term rate (€STR), it was a surprise that a small German agency would bring the inaugural transaction, especially as it is some weeks before the European Central Bank (ECB) is due to begin publishing the recommended new risk-free rate.

SSA issuers turned towards niche currencies this week to meet a range of demand across the Australian and Canadian dollar curves. KfW and the Asian Development Bank started the week printing in Australian dollars, before the World Bank joined them in the currency while also returning to the Maple market.

Bank of Montreal was marketing a senior preferred bond in sterling on Tuesday, one day after Rothesay Life gave FIG investors a chance to put their money in tier two in the same currency. The Canadian issuer started its trade with a 15bp-20bp concession, according to a banker off the deal.