North America

Laurentian Bank has received approval from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to establish a C$2bn legislative covered bond programme.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce returned to the euro covered bond market for its first deal since March 2020, issuing a highly subscribed €1bn eight year flat to fair value on Thursday.

The Mexican conglomerate Fomento Económico Mexicano (Femsa) was in the market for sustainability-linked bond in euros on Thursday, marking the latest in a string of innovative trades from the Latin America.

Bonds issued by Mexican payroll lender AlphaCredit lost around half their value on Wednesday after the company revealed a correction in its accounting of derivatives positions would lead to an impairment charge of Ps4.1bn ($206m). Investors and analysts said this would take the non-bank lender’s equity into negative territory, suggesting default was a growing inevitability.

Mark Manduca, a European equity research analyst at Citi, has been appointed as chief investment officer of GXO Logistics ahead of its spinoff from its New York-listed parent XPO Logistics.

Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of business on Monday, April 19. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services.

US-listed Zai Lab and Futu Holdings are tapping the equity market for funds through follow-on offerings, with both the Chinese companies launching their transactions after a rally in their stock price.

RBC Capital Markets has created a new leadership position at the top of its global public sector markets business, promoting a senior banker in Toronto to fill the role.

Citi's head of EMEA banking, capital markets and advisory, Phil Drury, is relocating to San Francisco to take charge of a new franchise covering technology and communications.

Scotiabank has hired a new head of syndication in New York, GlobalCapital understands.

The Covid-19 pandemic caused severe disruption to financial markets in 2020-2021. During this difficult time, the Bank of Canada and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions took a number of actions to build resilience and improve the stability of the Canadian financial system. Federally regulated financial institutions were, among other things, permitted the privilege to pledge covered bonds with the central bank, which provided access to long-term repos and benefited from preferential regulatory treatment of loans subject to payment deferrals.

Public Storage wrapped up a quickfire acquisition financing in the US bond market this week, after supply slowed to a trickle as huge swathes of corporate America entered earnings blackouts.