JP Morgan

Legal & General’s order books peaked at over £4bn ($4.96bn) as it made its first sale of restricted tier one (RT1) capital this week, joining many of its UK peers in the asset class. The insurer used the popularity of its trade to tighten the pricing and leave no new issue premium behind.

State-owned Hungarian Development Bank (HDB) on Wednesday launched a euro-denominated benchmark bond. The bond marks the third entry into the market by the Hungarian sovereign or one of its entities during the coronavirus pandemic.

Sovereign, supranational and agency bond issuers are mobilising their resources to support the fight against Covid-19. The below table details the bonds they have issued, specifically in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has returned to the dollar bond market after a six year absence, selling a three-tranche deal that generated $21bn of orders at the peak.

Philippine telecommunications company PLDT made a stellar return to the debt market on Tuesday. It raised a modest $600m but received orders of more than $11bn at its peak, as investors fought for a piece of the rare issuer.

A spate of real estate and government-linked borrowers from Greater China flocked to the dollar bond market on Tuesday.

China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co has raised $1.81bn from its listing of Global Depository Receipts, becoming just the second company to use the London-Shanghai Stock Connect scheme.

JP Morgan has picked two of its own staff to fill newly-created posts as co-heads of investment banking across the Asean region.

The New Development Bank was not able to claim a seat among the top supranational borrowers as it brought its debut dollar benchmark on Tuesday, pricing at a spread of over 30bp to the premium triple-A rated names, according to on-looking SSA bankers.

Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets seized the opportunity to raise senior funding in sterling on Tuesday, with the market back in 'extremely good shape' after several days of volatility. It is expected to be followed in the currency by Legal & General Group and Virgin Money, which have each announced strategic transactions this week.

New Zealand attracted record demand for its largest ever bond as it tapped the market with a four year syndication on Tuesday. With the government facing an elevated funding programme in 2020-21 to combat the effect of the coronavirus pandemic, there is a feeling that record-breaking deal sizes will become more common a spectacle.

AIB Group priced a €625m additional tier one (AT1) bond in euros this week, following several volatile days of trading for the asset class. The deal surpassed expectations in terms of size and pricing, having been run along with a tender offer for one of the Irish lender’s existing AT1s.