Central America

Market participants are expecting tense discussions after Belize’s government said it would look to restructure its 2038 “super” bond even though there is some debate as to whether a restructuring is really necessary.

Senior Latin America DCM officials at some market-leading bookrunners said this week that they feared there would be no more dollar issuance from the region in 2016, although a couple of dissenting voices thought one or two issuers may “panic” and attempt to issue.

Central American development bank Cabei added a 20th currency to its bond issuance portfolio on Thursday with a 10 year debut in Australian dollars as niche currencies dominated the post-US election activity in Latin America.

Creditors of Central American sovereign Belize are understood to have formed a committee to deal with a possible second restructuring of the government’s bonds in four years.

Central American development bank Cabei will look to price its first Australian dollar bond on Thursday after announcing price guidance of 180bp over ASW for a proposed 10 year deal.

After a slight recovery in Latin American credit markets on Wednesday, Latin American bond bankers said the region’s borrowers should be ready and waiting to issue as soon as a window becomes available.

Just one-fifth of Mexican corporate bond issuers are likely to escape unscathed from US president-elect Donald Trump's proposed trade protectionism policies, said Fitch on Monday.

Central American sovereign Belize could be forced into a restructuring or exchange of its so-called “super-bond” due 2038 after it said it was looking to meet bondholders to discuss the country’s “serious economic and financial challenges”.

The benign reaction across capital markets to Donald Trump's surprise US presidential election victory did not spread as far as Latin America. A brutal sell-off on Thursday further complicated an already tough picture for Mexican issuers facing uncertain times as participants wonder just how badly a Trump presidency could affect the country, writes Oliver West.

The failure of El Salvador’s legislative assembly to approve the issuance of long-term debt has heightened the Central American nation’s liquidity risks to critical levels, with Moody’s slamming the sovereign with a double notch downgrade on Monday.

A shift of momentum in the US presidential race has sent tremors through derivatives markets this week, with equity implied volatility ramping up, credit index spreads widening and the Mexican peso slumping against the dollar.

Mexico raised completed the financing of all its external debt obligations for 2017 on Tuesday, selling €1.9bn of long eight and 15 year bonds in its second euro-denominated bond of 2016.