◆ Infrequent issuers achieve tight pricing... ◆ ...but lose a third of orders ◆ Investors may demand more NIP on deals from next week

Deals price tightly to Western European peers, with high-spread Icelandic banks performing the most

The country is one of the most vulnerable in EM to energy price shocks

◆ ING brings its first euro capital trade of 2026 ◆ Fair value debated ◆ ING's and Intesa's tier two deals were "not a competition"

◆ Mercedes-Benz prints its first euro public deal of 2026 ◆ Traton's debut green bond pays small NIP ◆ Both issuers tapped euro private placements this year

The winning institutions and individuals will be revealed at the awards dinner on June 17 in London

Frontier currency bonds issued by development finance institutions have outperformed emerging market indices over the past three years, according to a report published by fund manager TCX this week.

The European Commission is on the verge of launching its new sustainable finance strategy — the first major fresh initiative since the Sustainable Finance Action Plan of 2018. GlobalCapital has seen a leaked draft, which reveals that the EU will explore whether to create official labels for transition bonds and sustainability-linked bonds, whether to regulate green mortgages, and how to reinforce investors’ responsibility for the effects of their investments.

Hungary, Poland and Romania are ranked in the top quarter of a new index of financial risk. Nomura says that countries should act now to reduce the risk of a crisis hitting within the next three years.

Investment analytics firm Impact Cubed has launched a new ranking for ESG impact based on which countries are improving fastest — an important factor when considering the view that those that demonstrate ESG leadership will attract more investment.

Accusations of greenwashing have been infrequent in the 14 year old green bond market, which mainly sticks to uncontroversial assets, such as renewable energy and railways. The sustainability-linked bond market is only a toddler, but already a much more difficult child. No wonder: it is handling tougher material.

The pace at which central banks are accelerating towards skewing monetary policy to support the fight against climate change was brought home this week by a speech by Isabel Schnabel, an executive board member at the European Central Bank, in which she went further than ever before in calling for strong action and hinted at how the ECB might do it.

AfDB hopes to launch multi-issuer securitization this year

Deal liberates capital and tempts investors to take new frontier market risk

◆ First dollar benchmark from World Bank since October 2025 ◆ 'Remarkable' size and spread achieved ◆ IDA jumps through hoops to issue SEC exempt deal

New law expected to accelerate the dominance of professional landlords

Trade backed by lease, power purchase agreements as sector navigates regulatory changes

Nigeria plans a total return swap, following peers on the continent in the last 12 months

Growing worries about inflation and interest rate rises not putting investors off EM debt, yet

◆ British lender fixed spread and deal size from outset ◆ Order book closed at over two times the deal size ◆ Fixing terms enabled faster execution, the lender said

◆ Sterling trade was lender's third tranche of covereds this year ◆ 48bp was in line with fair value, a banker said ◆ Santander UK's first sterling covered since May 2025

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