Pre-migration untagged articles

The Republic of Portugal found a hefty bid for short dated dollar commercial paper this week, printing a $500m ticket, as dealers reported firmer demand for debt from issuers in peripheral eurozone countries.

New year, old anxieties. 2011 might have arrived with a fanfare of fireworks, but in the bond market, the conditions are best termed as damp and morbid.

Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria on Tuesday launched the first Spanish covered bond since November.

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae’s demands for Bank of America to repurchase mortgages were resolved on Monday, after the bank paid $2.8bn to the government-sponsored enterprises. Equity investors and rating agencies have seen the payments as positive, partly because Bank of America had allocated $4.4bn for costs related to putbacks in its third quarter results.

The World Bank on Tuesday sold its first ever offshore Chinese renminbi bonds, delighting bankers who believe the renminbi could be the "currency of the year".

HSBC has promoted a highly experienced and respected syndicate banker to take on the job of global head of debt capital markets, a position left open when Spencer Lake was made co-head of global markets earlier this month.

Table Commentary

Crisis-weary borrowers, investors and bankers are turning their thoughts to how markets will perform at the start of next year despite finally being able to take a breather after an exhausting, volatile and worrying 2010.

Hypo Group Alpe Adria’s nationalisation by the Austrian government on Monday raised concerns over the prospects for a swathe of Europe’s small banks and their ability to access the capital markets. Find out what further impact market participants expect in EuroWeek on Friday.

A year full of banking recapitalisations came to an end when ING closed a Eu7.5bn rights issue with a high take-up on Tuesday after Lloyds had completed its record £13.5bn rights issue last Friday. Financial sector deals in 2009 have been marked by deep discounts to absorb market shocks. Will such large discounts be needed in 2010? EuroWeek takes a look ahead on Friday.

Standard & Poor’s today released its revised criteria for assessing asset-liability mismatch risk for its covered bond ratings, and placed 98 covered bond programmes on CreditWatch. Read EuroWeek on Friday for analysis and reaction.

A covered bond market in the US came a step closer this week, with a hearing on Tuesday focused on the asset class in the House Financial Services Committee in Washington, DC. Democrat and Republican committee members, and witnesses testifying at the hearing, welcomed the drive to establish a US covered bond market, highlighting the contribution the asset class could make towards reviving and growing the country’s private mortgage market. Read EuroWeek this Friday for more on the hearing.