HSBC

France became the latest European sovereign bond issuer to confront the problem of inflated orders with the sale of its second green OAT via syndication on Tuesday. But instead of bringing the spread in to price extremely tight like Italy and Spain did earlier in the year, France instead attempted to control the sale process by engaging with investors to persuade them not to put in excessive tickets in the first place. Burhan Khadbai reports.

BPCE and HSBC paid a small concession to access the sterling senior market this week, but both were happy to do so. The French firm targeted diversification, while HSBC went for size.

The FIG market enjoyed its busiest week of the year so far but not all trades are working as investors shun tightly priced deals, particularly those at the long end.

Vienna Insurance Group was unable to build momentum in its 15 year bond syndication on Thursday as long dated US treasury yields climbed higher. The insurer was joined in the primary market by Santander, which paid a premium to launch its first callable non-preferred issue.

Despite the disruption that the coronavirus pandemic and, more recently, volatility in global markets have brought to emerging market debt, issuers in the CEEMEA region are not backing away from their pivot towards ESG financing. Though concerns about greenwashing are holding the market back, new sustainability-linked and transition structures are tempting issuers.

The sterling corporate bond market had three visitors on Wednesday, making it the busiest day this year, and raised a combined £1.565bn, an unusually large amount for corporate sterling issuance.

HSBC sold one of the biggest sterling deals of the year on Wednesday, as it paid up slightly to achieve such a large size.

Hutchison Port Holdings Trust found strong support for its five year bond on Tuesday, allowing it to raise $500m from a $3bn order book.

Singapore's Clifford Capital returned to the offshore bond market this week to raise $500m.

BPCE returned to the public sterling market after a year away this week to issue the first offshore financial bond in about a fortnight.

Agence France Trésor (AFT), the French sovereign debt office, mandated banks on Monday to lead the sale of the sovereign’s second green OAT, returning to the market for the first time since its debut in 2017.

The euro market burst into life with new FIG deals on Monday, as borrowers reacted to supportive comments from the European Central Bank last week. Bankers now expect plenty of supply to fill out the pre-Easter pipeline.