North America

The size of a covered bond liquidity buffer that protects investors against the risk of payment disruption should be an important risk consideration, but there is no incentive to play safe as regulatory and central bank treatment of the asset class play more pivotal roles in valuations.

It is the year of the ox in China and for equity investors 2021 is the year of the bull. Stock buyers continue to be optimists despite the economic ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic and are convinced that the spread of vaccinations across the globe will soon kick-off a festival of consumer spending.

Two SSA borrowers hit screens on Tuesday to announce benchmark bonds. Deal flow in the SSA market has slowed after the January rush, but borrowers are still keeping investors busy with a regular flow of deals.

Coupang, an e-commerce company, is planning a $1bn IPO in the US as it gets ready to become the first South Korean firm to list in New York in 10 years.

This week in Keeping Tabs: an opportunity for the UK's finance sector after Brexit, and an argument for why you shouldn't worry about the stock market.

Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca’s bonds fell sharply in secondary markets this week after the company missed a coupon payment on its international bonds. But the decision to stay current on, and prepay, a domestic bond left some bondholders recalling previous battles with Ricardo Salinas Pliego, Mexico’s third richest man and the owner of the broadcaster.

Canada’s Equitable Bank has registered its covered bond programme this week. It expects to issue its first transaction in euros at the short end of the curve in the second quarter.

TV Azteca, the broadcaster owned by Mexico’s third richest man Ricardo Salinas Pliego, missed a coupon payment on a $400m bond on Tuesday, leaving some concerned about the implications for other Grupo Salinas-controlled bond issuers.

UK biotech firms are continuing to reap the benefits from US listings. On Tuesday Autolus Therapeutics, an early stage biopharma firm backed by Syncona Investments, became the latest UK Biotech firm to raise capital on the US Nasdaq in a $100m transaction. The deal shows the continued advantages for early stage European biotech firms in having a US listing.

A blank cheque company fronted by Andrea Pignataro, the founder and executive chairman of trading software and financial data group ION, has listed on the Nasdaq, raising $300m.

Chinese cloud-based communications provider Cloopen Group Holdings saw its stock price triple on the first day of trading, after sealing a $320m IPO above the marketed range.

Banks that mostly missed out on last year's trading and origination windfall would find it difficult to make up for lost time by leaning into investment banking; that ship has probably already sailed.