Latin America

Edgar Madinaveitia, a managing director in Latin American debt capital markets at Credit Suisse, has left the bank, according to sources away from the bank.

Peruvian cement company Cementos Pacasmayo is trying to replace half its dollar bonds with a local currency bank loan.

A Russia euro-denominated bond has taken investors by surprise this week, as emerging markets issuers seem to be taking their last gasps in the bond market this year.

Ecopetrol, the Colombian state oil company, said on Wednesday that it would redeem a $1.5bn bond maturing in 2019 with cash and confirmed that next year’s $3.5bn-$4bn investment programme would be self-financed. Colombia continues to provide slim pickings for bond markets.

Bondholders of Brazilian mining group Vale have taken the chance to decrease their exposure to the rapidly deleveraging company with relish, as investors holding over $3.8bn of paper attempted to participate in a tender offer capped at $1bn.

Odebrecht Engenharia & Construçäo finally admitted defeat in its attempt to avoid default on Monday, as it acknowledged it would not be making a $11.5m coupon payment due on its $519m of 4.375% bonds due 2025, paving the way for a restructuring.

Bonds issued by central American sovereign Costa Rica rallied as much as four points on Monday after the country's constitutional court gave investors a positive surprise, approving fiscal reform that should improve market confidence in the borrower.

Colombo-Canadian oil company Frontera Energy managed to persuade 91.16% of its creditors to approve an amendment in its bond indenture that will allow it to make larger payments to shareholders.

Central American development bank Cabei (Central American Bank of Economic Integration) sold $100m of dollar bonds to Japanese insurance companies earlier this month to complete its financing needs for 2018, the lender said.

In a shortened week in the US there was still time for heavy volatility in Lat Am bond markets, with sharp moves in Mexico particularly concerning for DCM bankers.

Some Latin American DCM bankers think the year is over for new issuance, and several are indeed wishing it already were. Though much of what put the brakes on in Lat Am this year will continue to affect the market in 2019, bond bankers should find reasons to believe January will be better.

Investors in Latin American bonds are giving thanks this week, as Wednesday brought some small respite on Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s US holiday. Some of the region’s more battered paper rallied slightly — though the consensus is still that issuance is finished for the year.