Canada

Strong short end dollar demand led a host of issuers to print tight deals this week, including one debut. Investor appetite is expected to stay strong, but bankers are sceptical that there will be much supply.

Harvest Operations Corp, a Canadian oil and gas company, began marketing a dollar bullet on Thursday that is backed by its parent, Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC).

Three borrowers came to market for dollar paper on Tuesday and another hit screens announcing a transaction on Wednesday, as bankers reported strong conditions in the currency.

A new name for the SSA market hit screens on Monday, picking three banks to run a dollar five year transaction. The borrower will share the market with dollar trades from Dexia Crédit Local and Finland.

Third quarter profits in Royal Bank of Canada’s capital markets business fell by 4% on Wednesday, a C$24m drop that the bank attributed to benign market conditions and low volatility.

GlobalCapital speaks to Wojtek Niebrzydowski, vice president, treasury, at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce about the implications for Canadian covered bonds under the country’s newly proposed resolution regime and ask what SEC Reg AB rule revisions mean for SEC-registered covered bond programmes.

Gilt yields dropped on Thursday after the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted 6-2 to hold the Bank Rate at 0.25% — a higher majority than the 5-3 in favour of holding at its last meeting in June. The more dovish result came after weeks of hawkish noises emanating from the central bank. Meanwhile, the Province of Alberta returned to the sterling market to tap its debut issue from earlier this year.

The Province of Alberta has returned to the sterling market, following its debut in the currency in February.

Rating: Aa1/A+

Public sector issuers are enjoying a rare time in dollars, with a lack of supply and strong demand allowing tightly priced short end deals — leading one syndicate official to respond to a question on pricing concessions with: “New issue what?” But hopes of longer end issuance appear dashed as US yields fall as quickly as expectations that US president Donald Trump will deliver on his pro-growth policies.

The Province of Alberta is planning another two dollar benchmarks during this calendar year, as it attempts to make up lost time after a surprise rating action by S&P earlier in the year. The sub-sovereign also revealed to GlobalCapital its issuance expectations for its new US commercial paper programme.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce issued a $1.75bn five year dollar covered bond on Thursday, its first since 2015 and the third of the same size and tenor from a Canadian bank this year.