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Brazil took a step closer to sub-investment grade status on Wednesday when Moody’s placed its Baa3 rating on review for downgrade.

Anglo American’s announcement this week that it will increase its asset sales target to $4bn, as part of a plan to adjust to painfully lower minerals prices, is the latest sign of two trends that are expected to drive M&A activity and equity capital markets business in 2016: carve-outs and divestments of assets; and the shake-up in natural resources.

Abengoa’s decision to seek insolvency protection is a bankruptcy credit event trigger for some credit default swaps referencing the company but not others, ISDA’s Determinations Committee has ruled.

Goodyear Dunlop Tires, the US tyre manufacturer, is issuing €250m of eight year senior unsecured notes. A roadshow is scheduled for Wednesday in London.

Stockmann, the Finnish retail and property company, is considering a hybrid bond issue, but otherwise the corporate bond market is decidedly quiet.

The Belgian Debt Agency will have a reduced gross borrowing requirement in 2016 and also plans to buy back €4.55bn of outstanding debt.

The African Development Bank is set to bring a green bond as the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris (COP21) nears its end.

The International Finance Corporation printed its first medium term note in Chilean pesos on Monday.

A group of companies has committed to the Science Based Targets Initiative drive to reduce their carbon emissions at the kind of fast pace required to make a real difference to global warming. Initiatives like these are valuable, and begging to be supported by capital markets investors.

Air Liquide and Saipem loans show that bankers and borrowers are not yet slowing down as they seek to tie up remaining bumper deals they launched in a busy fourth quarter.

The Egyptian loan market is showing signs of recovery with deals from Banque Misr and National Bank of Egypt in recent months. Bankers say there is more to come in 2016.

Latvia on Tuesday sold €550m 0.5% December 2020s from a book of €1.6bn, in conjunction with a buyback of its old dollar debt, switching out some of its traditional EM investor base for new rates buyers.