Mizuho

A trio of Wall Street heavyweights tapped the dollar market in size this week, with investors pouring cash into new deals.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) hit the market for dollar paper on Tuesday, with the Manila-based supra going for five years and the French agency opting for three years.

CPPIB Capital, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, dived into the long end of the sterling bond market on Monday for a bumper follow-up to January’s jumbo debut.

Lloyds Banking Group became the first Yankee bank to access dollar funding for almost a month when it came to the market with a new senior deal on Thursday.

High grade companies poured into the bond market this week as participants weigh up whether this is a redux of 2009’s record year or if the unprecedented central bank spending and high bank liquidity mean that this is a unique market where borrowers raise cash even if they do not really need it.

Mizuho Bank said it had hired former Lloyds banker John Feeney as head of its European corporate finance department, responsible for growing European corporate banking.

Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets spied an opportunity to launch a new senior bond on Thursday, with credit markets performing well despite the tougher backdrop in equities this week.

Oil firms burst into the corporate bond market on Thursday with BP, Royal Dutch Shell and OMV opening books on multi-tranche trades, as comments from US president Donald Trump sent oil prices rocketing.

The power of central bank buying and fund redemptions are evident this week in the European investment grade corporate bond market, where issuers have been squeezed into a narrow range of maturities as they search for cash.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary capital markets activity. The North American corporate bond market funded a staggering record $194bn of investment grade issues in March while Europe has also been busy — shaking up the league tables and yielding a surprise windfall for the very largest investment banks.

Reliance Industries is seeking commitments from banks for a ¥38bn ($351m) Samurai loan in senior syndication. The Indian company’s deal is part of a two-tranche dollar and yen-denominated transaction worth about $1.45bn.

Carnival Cruises, the world’s largest leisure travel company, is rolling the dice on a coronavirus rescue package, launching a $1.25bn underwritten rights issue, $1.75bn convertible bond, and a $3bn dual currency high yield bond.