South America

Chile tapped bond markets for $4.25bn-equivalent of funding on Tuesday, starting with a 10 year green tap and new long-dated social bond in euros, and then following a similar playbook in US dollars.

Creditors of Argentine state-owned oil and gas company YPF are fighting for their rights after being asked to participate in a debt exchange that would cause them material losses. But even if bondholders rebuff what appears to be an opportunistic offer, the attempted deal is another bad omen for investors in Argentina.

Chile is looking to debut its social bond framework in the euro market this week with a 20 or 30 year benchmark. The deal will be accompanied by a re-opening of its 0.83% green bonds maturing in July 2031.

A group of investors holding more than a quarter of YPF’s $6.228bn of outstanding international bonds have confirmed that they will not participate in the company’s exchange offer, but say they do not believe they need to take further steps, for now, to block the deal.

Banco do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (Banrisul), the 10th largest bank in Brazil, is approaching international bond investors for the first time since 2012 as it looks to return to markets with a tier two bond issuer.

Colombia’s public credit head told GlobalCapital that the sovereign had wanted to move quickly to get ahead of potential volatility as it printed $2.84bn of new bonds this week as part of a liability management operation. The official said that the early-year sell-off in US Treasuries had not tainted what was a strong issuance window.

Four heavily oversubscribed Latin American new issues fetched tight pricing on Thursday, dispelling the unease felt at the week’s start and putting the region firmly on track to fulfil the predictions of record primary volumes for a January.

Colombia tapped international bond markets for the first time since June this week. But it is the country's domestic bond market — which is 25% owned by foreign investors — that could be in for a particularly notable year, with the sovereign set to turn to pesos for its debut green bond in July. It is also laying the ground for a social bond and a government bond ETF.

Two of Latin America’s most established borrowers, the Colombian sovereign and Brazilian bank Itaú, returned to international bond markets on Tuesday. Though both issues were priced roughly as expected, bankers on and away from the trades said there were signs that Lat Am’s roaring start to 2021 was losing steam.

Holders of bonds issued by Argentine state oil and gas company YPF are seeking to form a creditor committee to block a proposed distressed debt exchange that analysts say is unlikely to gain much traction with creditors.

The Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples has written an open letter to BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink, who is expected to publish his annual letter to stakeholders this week. Apib wants BlackRock to end what it calls its “complicity” in the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, and to consult indigenous people as it finalises its new policy on biodiversity and deforestation.

Six of the 11 Latin American borrowers to have priced or announced new cross-border bonds so far in 2021 have opted to show off their ESG credentials while doing so — either through dedicating the use of proceeds or by issuing in the more novel sustainability-linked format. Brazil is leading the way, with three further mandates on Monday.