Mizuho

Iberdrola, the Spanish utility, and Clarion Housing, the UK housing association, became the latest companies to sign loans using risk-free rates instead of Libor, as more deals are signing that ditch the scandal-ridden benchmark from day one.

Iberdrola, the Spanish utility, has signed a €2.5bn sustainability-linked loan, becoming the first Spanish company to use risk-free rates as a benchmark instead of Libor.

FedEx, the US delivery company, picked Europe to print its debut sustainability bond on Tuesday, as the region’s green and environmental, social and governance debt market is “years ahead” of the US.

A handful of investment grade corporate borrowers are out with mandates on Monday, with market conditions improving for them after last week’s bonds have traded tighter despite pricing with small premiums.

Equate Petrochemical, the petrochemical producer part-owned by Kuwait, has laid plans to re-enter the international debt markets after less than a year since its last outing. The mandate comes just days after the IMF warned Kuwait to undergo fiscal consolidation after its economy shrank last year.

China Construction Bank Corp turned to the bond market on Thursday to sell a $2.4bn equivalent multi-currency transaction, with each tranche carrying a socially responsible investment (SRI) label. But recent volatility in the region’s credit market, and the issuer’s own ‘ambiguous’ approach to the trade, posed challenges.

South Korea's Shinhan Bank became the latest Asian bank to sell a sustainability bond this month. It raised $500m from its transaction, but felt some pressure from the risk-off sentiment in the region’s credit market.

Singapore’s agribusiness company Wilmar International has returned to the loan market for a borrowing of up to $1bn.

Marvell Technology, the Bermuda-registered US chipmaker, jumped into the dollar bond market this week with a $2bn trade linked to a $10bn acquisition, after clinching the deal more quickly than expected.

Esoteric names from the FIG market are expected to fill the post-Easter issuance pipeline to take advantage on the constructive market conditions on offer.

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Trip.com Group has launched bookbuilding for its HK$10.5bn ($1.35bn) secondary listing in Hong Kong, testing investor appetite amid growing pains for the pandemic-hampered travel industry and as the performance of recent IPO debuts in the city fizzles.