The European Financial Stability Facility took the spotlight in the euro public sector bond market on Monday with an intraday execution ahead of a busy week. The European Investment Bank, Council of Europe Development Bank, Spain and Cyprus have all announced new deals.

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.

Shriram Transport Finance Co appealed to investors in the US by selling a social bond that flew off the shelves, allowing the Indian non-banking financial company to raise $500m.

The sustainability-linked loan market is a glorious mess.

The loan market’s trade bodies are preparing to give new guidance about how to ensure sustainability-linked loans — in which borrowers can get a margin reduction if they hit sustainability targets — are genuinely “ambitious”. Bankers want to protect the market from rising concerns that some deals’ terms are too easy on the borrowers.

Germany’s debt management office, the Finanzagentur, is confident its green bonds will be liquid when the first issue is launched in the second half of 2020 and has high hopes that they will trade tightly relative to ordinary Bunds. Its innovative plan to use a “twin bond” structure is designed to reassure investors and remove any doubt about liquidity.

Hybrid capital is open to the big US tech companies. But who needs an umbrella when the sun is shining?

The bank has been added to DNB's list of registered covered bond issuers

Issuance will be lower in June as yields rise

Amazon’s Swiss debut and Alphabet’s first yen deal jolted debt markets this week

Artificial intelligence is changing the investment banking game. But banks are divided on whether to cut costs or try and win more deals

The US bank is showing its global credentials at a time of increased transatlantic tensions but European banks are equal to the challenge

Investors were eager to tender their bonds despite initial resistance

Increased investor interest in utilities hybrids could bring down subordination premium, says SSE treasurer

Divisions deepen over multilateral development banks’ climate commitments

◆ UK utility prints €1.3bn dual trancher ◆ Issuer skips guidance as it masses orders north of €10bn ◆ Longer call leg draws stronger demand

Inclusion of a variable rate instrument was not acceptable to official creditors

Thibaut Makarovsky, head of funding and market operations at AFD, discusses his recent dollar trade and funding plans

Volatility is on the rise again

Moody’s expects prolonged disruption to the Strait of Hormuz, affecting sectors like chemicals in CLO portfolios

Bank and corporate issuance from the country has surged in 2026

US drug company Eli Lilly jolted the dollar market awake on Wednesday with an eight-part jumbo trade to fund two recent acquisitions

The US dollar market buoyant this week despite escalating hostilities in the Middle East

Redwood will be a repeat issuer