Currencies

Kommunalbanken on Tuesday became the first issuer to tap the Kauri market since February. The Nordic agency responded to reverse enquiries, tapping an eight year bond at an after-swap pricing level that was a little over its dollar curve.

Public sector borrowers in the euro market on Thursday focused their attentions on the long end of the curve, but not every trade made it to full subscription.

Korea Expressway Corp broke South Korean issuers’ silence in the Swiss market on Wednesday. As rates stabilise for Swiss investors, and basis swaps improve for foreign issuers, Zurich bankers hope this deal reignites more bonds from the Asian country.

The European Financial Stability Facility has sent requests for proposals for a trade next week, as a pair of rare issuers on Wednesday placed deals flat to or through fair value in a euro market buoyed by Emmanuel Macron’s election as French president last weekend. Longer dated trades — of which the EFSF has sold several this year — also look to be back on the table for borrowers.

Clare Francis, head of global corporates at Lloyds, is to leave the UK firm.

Nederlandse Waterschapsbank will add a new item to SRI investors’ menu, after mandating banks on Wednesday to run a roadshow for a debut affordable housing bond.

Bumi Serpong Damai and ICBC Sydney jumped into the debt market on Tuesday, capitalising on the positive market sentiment following the French presidential election.

Emmanuel Macron’s two-stage victory in the French presidential election rightly brought relief to the eurozone bond markets — as well as to all those who believe in the European project as a force for good. But talk of a Macron presidency opening the way for further European integration in the form of jointly issued eurozone bonds is far too early.

KfW has sold the largest ever new green bond issue from a supranational or European agency, printing flat to its curve with a green deal for the first time and drawing a remarkably high level of Asian investor interest for a euro trade. More SRI issuance is on the way, after Dutch agency FMO announced a sustainability bond roadshow.

The quarter-end and year-end problems in the repo market are scary enough, with collateral more important than ever before in financial markets. But what else is it concealing?

Kommunalbanken responded to reverse enquiry on Tuesday, tapping an eight year Kauri bond at an after-swap pricing level that was a little over its dollar curve.

Caisse d’Amortissement de la Dette Sociale has appointed a veteran of the French social security sector to succeed its long-serving chairman Patrice Ract Madoux, who is retiring.