LatAm Bonds

The Province of Buenos Aires got in ahead of its sub-sovereign compatriots on Wednesday, issuing a $750m Rule 144A/Reg S 10-year deal at a yield of 11.25%. Lead managers Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank priced the 10.875% issue at 97.916.

Morgan Stanley investment banking arm made pre-tax profits of $437m in the fourth quarter of 2010, up 80% from the third quarter but down 5% from the fourth quarter of 2009. And the bank’s fixed income sales and trading business continued to disappoint.

The Republic of Panama was pricing its debut Samurai bond as Euroweek went to press on Thursday night. Bankers expect the sovereign to price the 10 year bond, which will total the equivalent of $500m, at 48bp over yen swaps. Morgan Stanley, Daiwa and Mitsubishi UFJ are lead managers.

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Retail chain Cencosud issued Chile’s largest ever private sector corporate bond this week, raising $750m via a 10-year offering on Wednesday. Lead managers Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and Banco Santander priced the deal, rated Baa3 by Moody’s and BBB- by Fitch, with a 5.5% coupon to yield 230bp over US Treasuries.

Latin American banks continued last week’s borrowing spree, with new deals emerging from Banco do Brasil, Banco Cruzeiro do Sul, Banco Daycoval and Banco Santander Chile.

First Gulf Bank and Union Bank of India are in the Swiss franc market today, starting the promised 2011 rush of emerging market issuers into the market.

After attracting more than Eu20bn of orders, the European Union’s Eu5bn blow-out this week has blazed a trail for the rest of the eurozone rescue package.

A desperate race for liquidity and the threat of bail-ins may already be souring debt investors’ appetite after the bank finance market absorbed close to an unprecedented $50bn of new supply globally in the first four trading days of 2011.

New issues from Banco Bradesco of Brazil and Colombia’s Bancolombia have signalled the latest international funding charge by Latin American banks. Several regional peers are set to follow next week.