Currencies

As a year where political upsets became the norm drew to a close, GlobalCapital picks the standout trades from a turbulent 2016.

France has wasted little of 2017 in getting its green bond to market having missed the chance to be the first sovereign to print in the format when Poland brought a deal at the end of last year. It announced on Tuesday the six banks that will run the trade.

The Basel Committee said on Tuesday that it will not be ready to announce the final calibration of the ‘Basel IV’ measures next week, as previously planned.

In the looking-glass world of Swiss franc bonds, unrated companies and Austrian banks have issued at negative yields, writes Silas Brown. Starved of return, Swiss investors will look at a broader range of foreign and even high yield paper than ever before.

Canada’s low debt to GDP ratio and stable politics have made it a haven in a turbulent era in global politics. But, with fears of a wave of protectionism growing, the trade-focused country faces problems ahead. However, with its fiscal stimulus programme an example to other nations wishing to promote growth, Canada’s borrowers are confident they can adapt and prosper in the new political reality. GlobalCapital hosted this roundtable in early December.

The Swiss market shed roughly Sfr3bn ($2.93bn) of foreign issuance this year from last year. Expensive basis swaps and cheap funding for investment grade borrowers in euros and dollars drew foreign issuers away. But, if global rates rise next year, the foreign borrowers will return, Swiss bankers say.

France will aim for the long end of the curve with its first ever green bond, which it plans to syndicate in 2017.

Hong Kong-listed cigarette package printer Amvig Holdings is in the market for a HK$1.6bn ($206m) equivalent dual currency loan to refinance debt. The company will pay banks a fixed rate of interest for the renminbi portion of the deal.

Five banks supervised by the ECB are failing their ‘maximum distributable amount’ triggers, based on capital levels at the end of the second quarter, according to details of this year’s capital decisions published on Thursday.

World Bank added an A$75m ($56.2m) tap to its November 2031 Australian dollar bond on Tuesday. The original bond was the first time an SSA had printed a Kangaroo benchmark that far out along the curve.

Turkey’s Elazig Hospital has placed an innovative project bond, the structure of which enabled it to achieve a rating two notches above the Turkish sovereign. With infrastructure financing needs huge in the emerging markets, the deal sets a strong precedent for future issuance.

The Irish National Treasury Management Agency has set a higher funding target for 2017 than its 2016 figure, according to a funding statement released on Wednesday.