Coronavirus

Though Ecuador was already late on debt payments and bondholders were already expecting to be asked to agree to delay coupons, the cash-squeezed sovereign’s bond curve sold off sharply after the government launched a consent solicitation to that end on Thursday afternoon.

The vigorous revival of Europe's corporate bond new issue market, after it was paralysed by the coronavirus crisis in March, has impressed even those who work in the heart of it. But as the range of companies that has accessed the market grows, one group remains absent: Italian firms. The first few may need to pay up a little, but the market is ready for them, bankers said this week.

It was all eyes on Ireland in the eurozone government bond market this week, as the sovereign printed one of its biggest deals with a record-breaking order book.

Social bonds are proving to be a key part of SSAs fight against the coronavirus, with $10.6bn equivalent printed since the start of the pandemic. Having already tapped core currency markets last month, this week a pair of supranationals turned towards niche currencies to fund their response to the pandemic. With demand for the social format high, both bankers and funding officials are hopeful the new investor interest will stick around after the pandemic passes.

EMEA equity capital markets have reopened in dramatic style as companies rush to raise emergency funds at a time of maximum uncertainty because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Companies are being urged to act quickly in case market confidence evaporates again as the deadly disease continues to spread, write Sam Kerr and Aidan Gregory.

The UK Debt Management Office (DMO) and local councils should sell social bonds to help tackle the Covid-19 crisis, said a director for responsible investment at a large asset manager.

Market participants are expecting a gigantic take-up in the next round of the European Central Bank's Targeted Longer-Term Refinancing Operations (TLTRO III), after the central bank said that it would accept a much broader range of assets as collateral in the scheme. Smaller banks are likely to be among the biggest winners, with the new criteria helping them to look after their liquidity coverage ratios.

European banks are struggling to decide how to strike the right tone when reporting their first quarter results this year amid the extreme uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. Despite guidance from regulators, their biggest difficulty will be in signalling their expectations for loan losses.

Singapore has imposed a month-long lockdown after a spike in coronavirus cases. Bankers say they were ready for the move — but deal flow will suffer. Rashmi Kumar reports.

Financial institutions bond bankers are struggling to build a new pipeline of issuance, despite a significant improvement in market conditions this week. Not only are banks entering blackout periods ahead of first quarter results, many of them are also happy to wait before seeking to raise new funding.

The Republic of Indonesia raised $4.3bn from a triple-tranche bond this week, making quick progress in its effort to fund a fiscal stimulus package that it hopes will soften the damage of the Covid-19 pandemic. Morgan Davis reports.

Equity markets welcomed new measures from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to ease requirements for companies seeking to raise capital to ride out the economic havoc of the Covid-19 pandemic. The most important change is giving companies more flexibility on their 12-month working capital statements, which are required for preparing a prospectus.