HSBC

Lancashire County Council raised £350m ($453.5m) of five year cash on Thursday through the UK Municipal Bonds Agency platform. It is the first local authority to do so since the MBA was set up.

Optivo, the UK housing provider, has mandated banks for a long maturity sterling deal, a day after a compatriot housing association found healthy demand for a similar 23 year note in the currency.

A trio of South East Asian issuers have visited the Hong Kong dollar market in the last two weeks, as a move in the basis spurred demand. Among the issuers was Korea’s state-owned mining company Korea Resources Corporation (KORES), which made its debut in the currency and in the MTN format on Monday.

SBI Cards and Payment Services was riding high on Thursday after a rush of institutional investor demand pushed its billion-dollar IPO through a coronavirus-driven slump in local and global markets this week. Jonathan Breen reports.

China Hongqiao Group, China Water Affairs Group and Luxshare Precision has returned to the offshore loan market seeking a total of $800m.

Mexico’s state-owned electric company Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) turned to Taiwan’s bond market this week to sell a dollar bond — its latest foray into the Formosa bond market.

The World Bank has surprised onlookers with a five year benchmark bond, printed into the teeth of the volatility caused by Covid-19 and an emergency rate cut from the Federal Reserve. The successful deal from the supranational has emboldened an agency to follow suit, with others expected to follow.

HSBC is moving its securities services business into global markets to create a new unit. Allegra Berman and Richard Godfrey, co-heads of securities services, will gain new responsibilities as part of the change.

China’s Luxshare Precision is in the market seeking a $500m revolving credit facility, returning to bank lenders after an absence of three years.

Genius Auto Finance, a joint venture between Geely Automobile and BNP Paribas Personal Finance, will follow BMW and SAIC-GMAC and sell a Rmb4bn ($574.2m) three tranche deal on March 10.

India’s market regulator has given Equitas Small Finance Bank (ESF) the go-ahead for its IPO, which is expected to raise about Rp10bn ($136.3m).

World Bank surprised some market participants by announcing a five year dollar benchmark shortly after the Federal Reserve slashed rates in response to the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, but before the details of the Fed's plans were unveiled at a press conference.