Cartoon

Enel, the Italian energy company, printed the first sustainability-linked bond in sterling this week well through its curve, sparking expectations of far wider issuance in the still fledgling market.

A number of bond issues across CEEMEA and Latin America this week proved that investors are becoming tighter with their cash, especially regarding sub-investment grade credits.

Indonesia’s Star Energy Geothermal found solid investor demand for Asia’s first dollar-denominated project bond of the year. The deal was helped by the issuer’s investment grade rating and a green label that helped reduce pricing. Morgan Davis reports.

The ECB is mulling the idea of green Targeted Longer-Term Refinancing Operations to boost green lending. It's a noble aim — but it should work with the policies it has first, if it is serious about environmental impact.

Unbeatable funding conditions are drawing European banks away from their home currencies and into the dollar market. Deal arrangers predict there will be no let-up in the shift to dollars over the near term, reports Tyler Davies, as issuers prepare for an unsettling fourth quarter.

The European Central Bank's decision to embrace sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) as collateral and for its asset purchase programme is a sign of what is to come.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank, two relatively new supranational borrowers with a focus on the emerging markets, made a big splash in dollars this week as they continue to build out their curves. The issuers managed to achieve strong results despite facing worse volatility than expected as markets soured amid rising fears over the coronavirus pandemic.

Chinese rating agencies are facing increasing pressure, after the country’s securities association said it had found evidence of firms inflating ratings to win business. Addison Gong reports.

The green bond market was conceived on a simple plan. A new class of green bonds would finance environmental projects, standing out from the grey mass of ordinary bonds.

This week’s £1.88bn ($2.43bn) IPO of The Hut Group (THG) in London is leading to hopes that European technology firms will follow in listing on their home markets rather than in the US.

Bank of China took yet another step this week to build China’s sustainability market by selling Asia’s first blue bond to benefit ocean-related projects — opening the door for similar deals from the region. Morgan Davis reports.

European policymakers may decide to ramp up efforts to retain control of capital markets, amid rising Brexit tensions, the US-China dispute and the need to recover economic growth.