North America

BBVA is the latest large European bank to have suffered a ratings downgrade during the Covid-19 pandemic, with Fitch having moved the issuer’s debt ratings down by a notch blaming a weaker operating environment in Mexico and Spain.

Mexican conglomerate Fomento Económico Mexicano (Femsa) turned to international bond markets for the third time this year20 on Monday, clinching its tightest dollar funding of the year despite wider spreads.

Agora is looking to raise up to $315m from its Nasdaq IPO, having begun bookbuilding for the deal.

Investors appeared to be more sensitive of price movements in new issues of covered bonds this week, with valuations in the asset class having returned to within touching distance of their January levels.

Online casino gaming company DoubleDown Interactive has set the terms for its Nasdaq IPO, preparing the first South Korean listing on a US bourse in nearly a decade.

High grade companies crammed more than $35bn of bonds into the dollar market in two days after the US Federal Reserve pulled the trigger on its corporate bond buying programme on Monday.

‘Angrynomics’, a well-timed book on anger and how it relates to politics, economics and finance by Eric Lonergan and Mark Blyth, is published this week. GlobalCapital spoke to Lonergan to discuss its meaning.

Ebang International Holdings, a Chinese cryptocurrency mining hardware maker, has kicked off its IPO of up to $125.6m on Nasdaq in the US.

Barrick Gold Corp has raised HK$1.63bn ($209.7m) after paring most of its stake in Chinese firm Shandong Gold Corp.

Fast food restaurant franchiser Yum China Holdings is in the process of mandating banks for a secondary listing in Hong Kong, according to sources familiar with the matter.

China’s Genetron Holdings has launched bookbuilding for its Nasdaq listing, according to a source familiar with the matter.

In mid-May GlobalCapital hosted a specially convened panel of investment bankers, investors and a market infrastructure provider to discuss how capital markets have reacted to the coronavirus crisis and how they might play a role in the recovery of the global economy. The discussion, which took place remotely over Zoom, was the opening panel discussion of the Global Borrowers & Investors Forum, which this year is being brought to you in virtual form via a special digital publication on our website.