North America

The US high-grade market corporate bond market shrugged off volatility this week, as borrowers dashed to print trades in the last full week for supply before the year’s end.

The Province of Alberta was downgraded by Moody’s this week, because of its reliance on fossil fuel energy as it struggles with a lack of pipeline capacity and volatile oil prices, report Burhan Khadbai and Frank Jackman.

Houlihan Lokey’s European corporate finance land grab has made its fifth acquisition since 2014, writes David Rothnie, at a time when the fluctuations of the credit cycle may be about to lead to more restructurings.

National Australia Bank returned to the Canadian dollar market for the first time in over nine years this week to place the largest ever Maple callable tier two, and the first since global financial crisis.

Mexican chemicals company Cydsa has scheduled a roadshow as it looks to reopen a bond that investors say is suffering an illiquidity premium. But the expected increase in debt led Standard & Poor’s to assign a negative outlook to the company’s rating.

US private placement investors, who have long held firm on covenant structures, have started to notice early signs that their ranks may be breaking, and that 2020 may be a year when weaker covenant packages become more commonplace. But arrangers have resolutely dismissed this claim.

Moody's downgraded the Province of Alberta a notch on Tuesday with the rating agency blaming a “structural weakness” in the region’s economy through its dependence on non-renewable energy such as oil.

Equity investors are taking on more risk as 2019 draws to a close but a short sharp spike in volatility that began at the end of last week is giving them cause for concern.

Christopher Giancarlo, former chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), will return to the private sector in his first job since leaving the regulator.

OneConnect Financial Technology, a unit of Chinese conglomerate Ping An Group, hit the road on Tuesday to meet investors for its New York Stock Exchange IPO.

In this round-up, US president Donald Trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights Act into law despite trade tension with China, the Ministry of Finance allocated Rmb1tr ($142.2bn) of special project bond quotas to local governments and the Chinese State Council has set its sights on financing infrastructure projects.

Bonds issued by Mexican polyethylene producer Braskem Idesa were heavily bid on the break as investors said that the deal had been priced at a very attractive level versus comparable securities.