North America

In this round-up, the relationship between the US and China deteriorates, the US warns its pension fund against investing in Chinese equities, and Mainland regulators vow to develop the financial markets of the Greater Bay Area.

Bank of America became the first global commercial bank to print a Covid-19 response bond this week.

Chinese stocks are in Donald Trump’s firing line again, after the US president announced he is “looking very strongly” at any companies not following local accounting guidelines.

US bond bankers want the US Federal Reserve to clarify its timetable to start buying investment grade corporate bonds, as investors are starting to show signs of fatigue after a torrent of high grade issuance.

European banks are set to follow sovereign and supranational institutions and begin issuing senior bonds dedicated to fighting Covid-19 under existing ESG frameworks.

$14.6bn of secondary block paper priced in Europe and the US this week, according to Cortex data, as sellers offloaded large stakes in listed companies. They were taking advantage of a rally since the bottom of the pandemic sell-off in March. However, falling earnings estimates mean some fear that sellers may be divesting stock because they believe the market is overvalued.

ArcelorMittal’s $2bn recapitalisation with equity and mandatorily convertible bonds has traded badly in the aftermarket, leaving investors nursing heavy losses and raising fears of wider market contagion. Aidan Gregory, Sam Kerr and Owen Sanderson report.

Dada Nexus, an operator of Chinese on-demand retail and delivery platforms, and Legend Biotech Corp both set the ball rolling for Nasdaq IPOs this week.

Genscript Biotech Corp is planning to spin-off and list subsidiary Legend Biotech Corp in a potential $100m Nasdaq IPO. The firm submitted listing documents to the US regulator on Wednesday.

The Republic of Finland had to share its return to dollar market on Wednesday with a trio of three year SSA deals. Demand for dollar SSA bonds has been strong this week, and with mandates out for five and seven year deals,issuers are still looking to take advantage

US taxi company Lyft has issued a new $650m convertible bond to raise capital to see itself through the Covid-19 crisis, joining the horde of US companies that have turned US equity-linked into one of the hottest corners of the capital markets during the pandemic.

Dada Nexus, an operator of Chinese on-demand retail and delivery platforms, has set the ball rolling for a Nasdaq IPO.