Currencies

Kangaroo investors filled their pouches to the brim with a bumper World Bank tap on Wednesday. The supranational reopened its February 2024 Kangaroo to print the largest Aussie dollar tap in the SSA market since 2016.

Société de Financement Local (SFIL) has picked banks to sell its first benchmark in euros this year.

The Dutch government is preparing to issue its first green bond next week, and has introduced a new feature to the market: investors can register as accredited green bond investors to receive preferential allocations.

Ceske Drahy, the Czech national railway company, hit screens on Thursday announcing a euro benchmark, returning to the bond market for the first time in three years.

Books for Russian Railways’ eight year euro green bond had breached the €1.4bn mark by lunchtime on Wednesday, allowing leads to tighten pricing. A banker away from the note said the levels offered looked fair.

Zuercher Kantonalbank added momentum in the Swiss franc market for sustainable bond issuance at the end of last week, when it launched its second green bond. The proceeds of this Sfr200m ($198m) trade are for refinancing existing and future facilities under its Umweltdarlehen (environmental loans) programme, which dates back to 1992.

Nepi Rockcastle, a Johannesburg- and Amsterdam-listed real estate fund, printed a €500m four year bond on Wednesday. In doing so, it seemed to shake off concerns about the company raised by research firm Viceroy in November, though investors still had questions during the marketing of the bond.

Korea Railroad Corp turned west on Monday, marketing a six year bond to Swiss investors.

It was a g’day for Citibank on Friday, as the issuer returned to the Australian dollar market to print its largest ever Kangaroo, according to Dealogic. In recent weeks, the Aussie market has presented a good alternative for FIG issuers looking to sell senior unsecured debt.

The Republic of the Philippines returned to the euro bond market on Thursday, after a more than 10 year hiatus.

Vaduz-based Liechtensteinische Landesbank (LLB) kicked off Swiss franc bond issuance after an investor lunch in Zurich on Monday with its debut Sfr150m seven year senior preferred.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut rates for the first time since 2016 to a record low of 1.5% on Wednesday. The RBNZ Monetary Policy Committee decision was the first under its new set-up, which included three external members on the committee.