Currencies

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) has changed its daily exchange rate fixing methodology to make it more related to market levels, in a move that analysts saw as helping the renminbi's case for inclusion in the International Monetary Fund's SDR basket.

The universe of Spanish covered bond issuers could be poised to expand after Moody’s assigned a provisional rating to the Cédulas Hipotecarias of Caja Rural de Castilla-La Mancha.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) should take into consideration renminbi transactions involving Hong Kong when assessing the currency's international usage, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has told GlobalRMB. The current treatment excludes such flows, but even partial inclusion could tip the scales for the RMB's eligibility for the IMF's Special Drawing Rights (SDR).

Kookmin Bank has abandoned immediate plans to sell the first ever Korean covered bond a few days after announcing the deal, after meeting an investor base depleted by holidays.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has not announced any delay to its decision on whether to include the renminbi in its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) facility. Is that clear enough for everyone?

Bankers hoped that a covered bond would emerge this week after Lower Saxony got a strong response for its deal on Tuesday. But with no hint of a euro benchmark on Wednesday, issuance hopes have been postponed until the week of August 24. The only flow is in the secondary market, and in the absence of sellers, euro system buying is causing spreads to move one way.

Recommendations on foreign exchange and interest rate reform in China were at the heart of this week's International Monetary Fund's interim report on its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) review, despite the market's more immediate focus on the report's suggestion that addition of the renminbi to the SDR could involve a nine-month preparation period after any decision later this year.

The renminbi is unlikely to be added to the basket of currencies underlying the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights (SDR) facility until October 2016, even if the IMF Executive Board were to recommend inclusion when it announces the results of its review later this year, according to an IMF report on Tuesday night.

Covered bond supply picked up sharply in July as issuers made up for lost time during May and June. Year-to-date supply may have been stronger than at any time in the past three years but with many destabilising events on the horizon the outlook is precarious.

The amended Polish covered bond law is likely to lead to higher ratings, said Fitch on Monday. Polish covered bonds could achieve a maximum of rating uplift of 10 notches compared to two or three at the moment.

Fitch has upgraded the rating of Turkiye Garanti Bankasi (Garanti) after BBVA took a controlling stake in the bank. The rating action is likely to bode well from a credit perspective for the issuer’s forthcoming covered bond.

Asian Development Bank and Inter-American Development Bank each tapped five year Kangaroos on Friday, seeing out a week of strong Australasian currency issuance.