Swiss Francs

After S&P Global Ratings dumped two Chilean banks’ double-A ratings, fears have emerged that Swiss investors’ blossoming relationship with Chilean FIG debt will be stalled.

Questions have arisen, after S&P dumped Chile’s banks’ double-A ratings, as to whether this marks the end of the affair with the country for Swiss investors too. With two banks slashed to single-A, Swiss Bond Index rules could stunt the blossoming relationship between Swiss investors and Chilean FIG debt.

Gazprom printed a further Swiss franc bonds on Thursday. The deal was less reliant on Russian lenders to reach the Sfr500m ($517.9m) capped size than its previous two Swiss bonds, as Gazprom has developed a strong reputation among Swiss, and wider European, retail lenders.

Jackson National Life (JNL), the US insurance company, was drawn to the Swiss market on the strength of an attractive basis swap, which allowed the eight year bond to be priced some 10bp-15bp within the firm's dollar funding curve.

Crédit Agricole acted opportunistically on Monday on the back of last week’s bond sell-off to issue the first non-Swiss covered bond in Swiss francs since January 2016.

Gazprom will return to Switzerland next week for roadshows in Geneva and Zurich. And, as retail taste for sub-investment grade credit grows, the bookrunners are confident the Russian gas firm will attract demand.

Swiss management firm Helvetia Environnement Groupe (HEG), a BB- rated debut borrower, raised Sfr75m ($77m) with a five year green bond on Wednesday, in under two hours. A series of sub-investment grade issuers have made an impression on the Swiss market recently — a sign, Swiss bankers believe, of Swiss lenders’ growing ease with lower-rated credits.

MSC Cruises, the European cruise company, raised Sfr335m ($343.34m) in the Swiss bond market on Thursday, a record size for an unrated issuer which left the market wondering if a new type of borrower has found a Swiss home.

MSC Cruises, the European cruise company, raised Sfr335m ($343.6m) in the Swiss bond market on Thursday — a record size for an unrated issuer, which left the market wondering if a new type of borrower has found a Swiss home.

Santander effectively opened the Swiss market for senior non-preferred notes on Tuesday as it raised Sfr400m in the largest deal of its type, encouraging for a market looking for future TLAC issuance.

Santander effectively opened the Swiss market for senior non-preferred notes on Tuesday. The Spanish bank debut offer attracted Sfr400m ($411.4m) worth of interest –– encouraging for a market looking for future TLAC issuance.

The Swiss franc bond market saw its first Matterhorn –– a foreign deal of Sfr1bn ($1.02bn) or more — of the year on Wednesday, and the first from a BBB issuer, as Verizon Communication raised Sfr1bn with its debut. It was a sign that Switzerland has once again become an attractive destination for international borrowers, writes Silas Brown.