Kookmin Bank goes digital in dollars, yen issuance ahead of BoJ, as Volkswagen meets euro demand

◆ Wide range of investors buy highly rated bonds ◆ DNB achieves one of the tightest spreads since Covid-era QE days of 2021 ◆ SpareBank 1 SMN extends euro senior curve by two years

◆ Fair value estimated ◆ 'No fatigue' despite ongoing supply ◆ Increasing international investor base

◆ Stellantis sees stronger demand for shorter leg of €1.25bn dual trancher ◆ RCI Banque prices €750m 5.2 year tightly ◆ Ford finds demand in short end sterling

◆ RBC's second euro dual trancher of the year ◆ Takes large size in very busy market ◆ 'Nice' to price 4NC3 10bp inside Morgan Stanley, lead says

◆ Deal is joint tightest in the asset class since October 2021 ◆ Finishes with larger book than Nordea's November 2025 outing ◆ 'Flight to quality', outright rates and search for sub paper power strong outcome

A new acronym is joining the sustainable finance lexicon — the SRD. The EU’s Sustainability Reporting Directive will become the cornerstone of corporate reporting on sustainability, which is the foundation of responsible investing. A draft of it has been leaked, showing that it will impose much stricter rules on companies about reporting their environmental and social impacts, but also contains loopholes.

DBS Bank is aiming to reduce its thermal coal exposure to zero by 2039, joining a group of global investors and banks that have made similar commitments to tackle climate change.

The European Commission is set to put forward a new solution to the intense battle over the EU's sustainable finance Taxonomy, between green finance supporters and EU member states that want to safeguard their plans to use gas, GlobalCapital has learned. This would appear to involve leaving gas out of the sustainable category of the Taxonomy, as environmentalists have demanded, and making a "separate legislative proposal" to deal with gas and nuclear power.

Several European banks’ noses were put out of joint this week by research from Jefferies, which suggested a very different ranking of banks’ ESG characteristics from that investors usually get from rating providers. The study argued commercial ESG ratings on banks are not fit for purpose.

SGS, the Swiss corporate testing and verification company, came out aggressively for its debut Eurobond on Wednesday, and was rewarded with a spread flat to fair value.

ESG ratings are starting to appear in term sheets for high grade corporate bond issuers, regardless of whether or not the deal is a themed issuance. This is a sensible move and ought to have a positive impact on the curve for the issuer.

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