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US rate cuts were, admittedly, the driver behind the Latin American international bond market’s return to form in 2019. Although regional growth remains disappointing, there are encouraging technical and fundamental signs to be found

Emerging markets borrowers have been much slower to join the caravan of green and sustainability-linked financing that has swept up so many companies in western Europe. This is not because firms in CEEMEA are indifferent. As Mariam Meskin reports, interest is spreading, but companies must overcome practical obstacles, which will take time

New sources of capital and new financing models are appearing for emerging markets borrowers as investors broaden the search for yield. As Mariam Meskin reports, traditional EM bank lenders and bond buyers now find themselves battling direct lenders and private capital markets

For corporate treasurers, the rates markets’ transition away from Libor and other Ibor benchmarks has created a messy future for their derivatives portfolios that many would prefer not to think about. Uncertain liquidity in new products and having to understand volatility in the new benchmarks are complicating the migration but there are signs of progress amid the confusion, writes Ross Lancaster.

A fuse has been lit on renewables hedging. In offshore wind alone, a wall of investment is set to hit the industry over the next two decades, one that will take many project sponsors into cross-border investments. Those prospects are already deepening hedging markets, writes Ross Lancaster

After leaving the EU, the UK will face continuous and infinite choices over how aligned to remain for financial services. Meanwhile, London looks set to continue to leak activity to EU hubs, several of which are developing their own specialisms

As it spawns innovations everywhere from new issues to collateral management, is blockchain the technological key to digitising capital markets? And if it is, will that be through public versions such as Ethereum or private confidential networks? Or is this focus on distributed ledgers missing the point and the real need just to automate antiquated manual and bilateral processes? Julian Lewis reports

The transition from one set of interest rate benchmarks to another is conceptually simple. But it is also unprecedented and has deeper consequences than many realised when Libor’s abolition was announced in 2017. With contracts worth hundreds of trillions of dollars referencing the disgraced benchmark, even small errors will have vast repercussions. PPI mis-selling? You ain’t seen nothing yet. Richard Kemmish reports

The must-have new business line in capital markets is raising capital for companies that might be nowhere near coming to market. Tech companies stepping outside the private markets have stumbled this year, but banks still hope to take a slice of a fast-growing pie

An unusual note of optimism defines the attitude of Europe’s public sector issuers as they approach 2020. While many other markets are beset by fears of a slowdown in global growth, trade wars, and Brexit, SSA borrowers are confident in their borrowing strategies and loyal investor bases. Despite a change of face in the ECB’s top job, rates are still set to remain low for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, investors are having to grit their teeth to stomach the scanty yields on offer for euro SSA assets. Although SSAs are offering little in the way of yield, their place as pioneers of the evolving SRI market always ensures lively debate. In this roundtable, held in early November, market participants on both the buyside and the sell side favoured a more holistic assessment of issuers’ ESG profiles, rather than relying on labelled assets, but whether or not the ECB should take a role in promoting the SRI market through “green QE” divided the group.

Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal helped pull the US out of the Great Depression. Climate change is a bigger crisis and requires a similarly total response. But is the European Commission being ambitious enough? And will politicians, business and society accept the changes required? Jon Hay reports

2019 proved more fruitful for supranational, sovereign and agency borrowers than was expected in 2018 — in part thanks to a rejuvenation of the ECB’s asset purchase programme and a wholesale return to dovish monetary policies. GlobalCapital’s SSA team used its editorial judgment, with inspiration from GC’s world famous bond comments, to pick the top trades of the year. We strove to find deals that were not just the biggest, but that set pricing markers, were innovative and brave, or made an impression in other ways. GC presents the winners here. Congratulations to the issuers and banks involved.