North America

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.

Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) published a report on Thursday making the case for institutional investment into UK social housing. The sector has come under pressure from falls in government funding and the increasing costs of developing new homes. Capital from the insurance sector could provide a valve, PIC claims.

The US corporate bond market had no high grade new issues in the run-up to the Thanksgiving holiday but the return of big ticket mergers and acquisitions has raised bankers spirits for 2020.

Bank of Nova Scotia returned to the sterling market for the first time in more than a year on Wednesday, when it sold its first total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) compliant senior bonds in the currency a day after reporting its full year results.