North America

Ontario printed a first green bond off its domestic medium term note programme this week, and the deal was over six times covered. Demand for green provincial paper is high, with Ontario coming a week after neighbouring Quebec.

Export Development Canada has mandated banks for its first dollar benchmark of the year in what has been a quiet week in the currency for public sector borrowers. SSA bankers expect activity in dollars to pick-up next week, despite a US public holiday on Monday.

Arion Bank showed its eagerness to issue additional tier one (AT1) capital on Thursday as Icelandic banks get ready to benefit from a change in the national tax treatment of the instruments.

Wells Fargo has reorganised its group structure, including hiving out its corporate and investment bank as a separate business line and giving it a new leader.

Canada’s DRI Capital is preparing to list a new fund on the London Stock Exchange focused on investing in pharmaceuticals royalties.

SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEEIT), the London-listed investment trust that focuses on investment in energy efficiency, is targeting ambitious growth in 2020. Its CEO talks GlobalCapital through its plans.

Mexico’s second largest lender Banco Mercantil del Norte (Banorte) returned to the Swiss franc market for the fourth time in under two years on Monday.

The value of the riskier tranche of the World Bank’s pandemic bond has been discounted — but not by very much — as the coronavirus outbreak infects more people outside of China and therefore comes closer to triggering a payout from the notes.

The Reverse Yankee market could be set for another strong year in 2020, with Wells Fargo adding last week to an already encouraging running supply total in the format.

Mexican conglomerate Fomento Económico Mexicano (Femsa) on Friday tapped its 2050s, first issued nearly a month ago, to demonstrate how a softening of global risk appetite since then, combined with a strong technical picture in EM, is making markets attractive to both buyers and issuers.

Natixis, one of the investment banks that has gone furthest to prioritise greener financing, had to ramp up its provisions for credit loss from US natural gas producers in the fourth quarter, pointing to “structural transformation” in the sector. But it told GlobalCapital that it still saw opportunity in the industry.

Blank cheque firm Citic Capital Acquisition Corp has kicked off bookbuilding for a $200m IPO. The special purpose acquisition company (Spac) is targeting green investments.