LatAm Bonds

Bond investors are again clashing with an Argentine government issuer over restructuring terms, with the Province of Córdoba’s consent solicitation turned down on Sunday evening just two days after launch. However, Córdoba’s creditors published a counterproposal that is considerably more friendly to the province than a previous proposal.

Panamanian toll road operator Empresas Nacional de Autopistas (Ena) and Peruvian healthcare provider Auna began investor calls on Friday as Latin American issuers wasted no time returning to market after last week’s presidential election in the US.

Chile published its first sustainable bond framework on Wednesday, saying it wanted to build on the last year’s green bond issues to further diversify its investor base.

Spreads on Latin American bonds tightened sharply during US election vote counts on Wednesday in a promising — if only preliminary — sign for potential issuance conditions after the result is declared.

A group of institutional investors owning a portion of Suriname’s $550m of 2026 bonds and $125m of 2023s has hired Newstate Partners as adviser in anticipation of a request for debt payment relief from the South American country.

Argentine power company Gennaia is at risk of defaulting on its domestic dollar bonds as a result of capital controls issued by the Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA), Fitch said on Tuesday as it slashed the rating on the issuer’s international notes.

Bond markets in Latin America were quiet on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s US election. But the Mexican peso, and bonds issued by state-owned oil giant Pemex, could be most vulnerable to a surprise or uncertain result given they are two of the most liquid assets in EM.

As the Argentine Province of Buenos Aires approaches six months in default, a creditor group holding nearly half of the issuer’s international bonds has hired a major international law firm and says it is “prepared to evaluate all available options”.

A group of real money investors owning a “significant portion” of Suriname’s international bonds are forming a creditor group to negotiate with the country, as a new government prepares to restructure its debt.

Outrage at the destruction of the Amazon rainforest — which often involves dispossessing indigenous people — is common among capital markets executives. But few realise that their own firms are financing it.

Total Play Telecomunicaciones’ failure to appear in primary markets this week was less surprising to bond bankers than the fact that the Mexican telco had planned to sell a debut deal the week before the US elections, as equity volatility in that country made for a weaker tone in Latin American credit markets.

Chile, the only Latin American sovereign to have issued a green bond, is weighing up different thematic bonds as it makes its funding plans for 2021.