CEE Bonds

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Isbank will become the property of the country's finance ministry, in what a US-based investor said he saw as a 'further consolidation of Erdogan power'.

Uzbekistan landed on screens on Monday morning, announcing a roadshow to promote its debut in the Eurobond market.

Russian state-owned oil and gas giant Gazprom announced the mandate for a new dollar benchmark bond on Thursday, just days after a well-flagged move by the US Treasury to lift sanctions on Rusal and EN+. Market participants hailed the move as providing a more “constructive” and “encouraging” environment for Russian bonds.

State-owned Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom is embarking on a US roadshow with investors keen to take a look, ignoring any threat of possible further sanctions from the country.

The hopes of emerging markets participants were proven well founded on Wednesday when US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell walked back from the aggressive trajectory of rate hikes he had previously suggested.

The US sanctions slapped on Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) this week look similar to those that have just been removed from Russia’s EN+ and Rusal. The move indicates that the US believes in the effectiveness of sanctions and is happy to keep deploying them. Emerging markets investors should beware.

Georges Elhedery will be moving from Dubai to London in order to take up a new role as head of global markets at HSBC. He replaces Thibaut de Roux, who reportedly left in September after an accusation of inappropriate conduct.

The US Treasury went ahead with its plans to lift sanctions on Rusal and EN+ on Sunday. The move was well-flagged and has not caused much of a reaction in capital markets but was nevertheless seen as being ‘constructive’.

Turkey hit screens for a quick trip to the euro market to sell its second bond of the year on Thursday, and managed to slice 25bp from its yield.

PKO Bank Hipoteczny (PKO), Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (PBB) and Raiffeisenlandesbank NiederÖsterreich-Wien (RLB-NW) all found strong demand for their €500m covered bond deals this week.

The Republic of Turkey on Thursday returned to the capital markets for the second time this month, launching a €1.25bn six year bond and taking advantage of a recent buying spree in the country’s bonds.

Emerging market investors are enjoying an excellent start to the year in the secondary market, but primary supply has not followed up on its strong start to the year. Bankers and investors are confident that issuers will get moving soon though.