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This man’s passion for securitization runs deep — whether it’s calling a tune to the Global ABS conference, evangelism to sceptical regulators, or building a pioneering fixed income boutique out of the ashes of 2008, Rob Ford has remained at the centre of the market since its inception.

Grupo Axo, the Mexican fashion retailer, sold $325m of five year notes on its international bond market debut on Tuesday, tightening the price as bankers said Latin America bond markets were in a sweet spot for new issuance.

Commercial real estate has been one of the hardest hit sectors during the Covid-19 pandemic. The images of shuttered shops and empty offices are almost as emblematic of the Covid crisis as facemasks and stay-at-home warnings. Although there is hope for a recovery in issuance led by the red-hot growth in logistics sites, the outlook is uncertain given that underlying values of many properties backing existing CMBS remain unknown. Sam Kerr reports.

In mid-May GlobalCapital convened representatives of three RMBS issuers with different business models and approaches for a wide-ranging discussion about the state of the UK mortgage markets, funding strategies, and much more. Kensington is the most frequent issuer in European RMBS, with a track record stretching back to 1995, and more than £10bn of assets under management, including about £6bn of servicing mandates. LendInvest and Habito are fintech lenders, with LendInvest originating bridging loans and buy-to-let, funded through securitizations (LendInvest has completed two public deals so far), retail bonds, funds, and private capital, including a £500m partnership with JP Morgan. Habito mixes technology-enabled mortgage broking with its own buy-to-let originations, funded through Citi’s securitization shelf, and has recently launched the first long-term (up to 40 years) fixed rate mortgage product in the UK, funded through a partnership with CarVal Investors.

SMEs have been the hardest hit businesses during the pandemic and securitization has played a critical role helping them survive. So far, banks and governments have been making great progress helping them through both synthetic risk transfers and private or public ABS. However, recent amendments to the European securitization framework may make or break the product for SMEs. Jennifer Kang reports.

As part of GlobalCapital’s awards survey, we took the chance to ask issuers and other market participants what they wanted in a bank, and how they saw the market outlook. This was an experiment, for us, but some of the results are stark — league table is not all it’s cracked up to be, and neither is pricing — instead, it’s the personal factor that wins out, not the depth of relationship but the strength of the team. It really is quality that counts, and there are few wins to be had by skimping on the bankers but wielding a big cheque book. There were few big calls on spreads, with most participants calling a flat or slightly tighter environment — though NPLs may end up softening more than performing asset classes. Thanks to all who participated, and we’d welcome suggestions on how to improve the survey next year!

Sustainable securitization is moving into the mainstream, with a growing number of managers adopting ESG language in CLOs — usually through excluding specific industries from investment. What’s next in the green securitization revolution will depend on building a rigorous framework for assessing ESG factors and how to create standards. Paola Aurisicchio reports.

UBS has hired a new co-head of equity capital markets for Asia, with Zili Guo returning to the bank after five years.

The Hong Kong IPO market saw a scorching start to the year, with a record amount raised on the exchange. But as signs of pressure begin to show, a breather is much needed.

The skittish state of investor demand that was recently on display in covered bonds may herald a reassessment of credit, particularly as spreads are back to pre-pandemic levels and seemingly have limited potential for further performance.

Royal Dutch Shell was on the receiving end of a landmark court ruling last week that will compel the company to take profound climate change mitigation action. Not that you’d know from Shell’s bond curve. Time for fixed income investors to pull their heads out of the oil sand.

Santander has hired Abraham Douek from Citi to lead its coverage of financial institution and SSA clients within debt capital markets.