Global SSA Special Report 2026 (June 2026)

Public sector issuers have sailed through a volatile first five months of 2026, despite renewed inflation and growth concerns, writes Addison Gong. Their ability to adjust to higher yields and shorter demand ensured investors devoured a large slug of issuance laying a solid foundation for the rest of the year

The pick-up that sovereign, supranational and agency dollar bonds offer over US Treasuries has collapsed in two years, GlobalCapital’s Primary Market Monitor shows. As triple-A rated supras close in on pricing flat to the US government benchmark, bankers are no longer asking whether a deal can be priced through Treasuries, but when, writes Sarah Ainsworth

The Hong Kong dollar bond market is evolving beyond being one exclusively of private placements to one where public issuance of varying sizes and maturities is becoming more common. The greater frequency of public issuance is leading to more opportunities for investors and issuers alike. Sustaining this growth will require a bigger variety of asset classes, and more diversified local and international participation. GlobalCapital assembled a group of investors and issuers from across the bond market to discuss this burgeoning market and the progress they want to see from it in the future.

Amid tight budgetary conditions, including persistent inflation, volatile markets and geopolitical tensions, sovereign issuers in the EU face continuous pressure to fulfil borrowing requirements. Simultaneously, these same issuers are having to confront different challenges that range from the growing impact of hedge funds in their order books, and whether this is a good or a bad thing, how to convince new investors that their home currency, the euro, is an alternative to the dollar and how aligned EU capital markets should become and what form this should take. GlobalCapital assembled sovereign debt issuers to discuss borrowing requirements and how they are being met, what the diversification of their investor bases means for the products they offer and the benefits of harmonisation and simpler regulation in the EU.

In a complex market environment, AFL, the only French bank owned by local governments, will diversify its funding sources further in 2026 to strengthen the resilience and competitiveness of its credit. In this interview with GlobalCapital, Yves Millardet, chairman of AFL’s executive board explains how it is expanding its footprint across bond markets and continuing to focus on optimising funding costs as part of a strategy designed to secure financing for French local public investment for the long term

Picking a World Cup-free evening for the most prestigious awards ceremony in international debt markets in the summer of 2026 was always going to be tricky. Yet despite England’s opening match taking place on the same night, the GlobalCapital Bond Awards once again brought together the leading institutions and individuals shaping the global debt markets. For ICAP, sponsor of the awards, the event provided an opportunity not only to celebrate excellence across the industry, but also to strengthen relationships with the clients and market participants at the heart of its business.