World Bank

Work to bring the new risk-free rates to the dollar and sterling bond markets began in earnest this year as several issuers brought notes linked to them. But 2019 could be where clarity emerges on which of the different structures will win out.

The bond market is well ahead of schedule in its adoption of potential Libor replacements, with several issuers having printed notes linked to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (Sofr) in the dollar market, and to the Sterling Overnight Index Average (Sonia) in sterling. Borrowers are setting strong standards for other participants to take up, as well as adjusting structures to ensure the eventual market is optimal. That does not mean the job is finished, of course. GlobalCapital spoke to some of the pioneers in the Sonia and Sofr markets about their work so far — and the challenges ahead.

Rating: Aaa/AAA

Socially responsible investment deals were the focus of attention in the primary SSA market this week, as the World Bank and the Flemish Community of Belgium sold well-received green and sustainability bonds, respectively. Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten and Eurofima have added to the public sector SRI pipeline, which is showing no signs of slowing down as the year end approaches.

World Bank hit both the euro and dollar markets on Tuesday for its first syndicated green bond in over three years. Onlooking bankers were surprised by the level of demand for the euro tranche given what they claimed was aggressive pricing.

The World Bank has appointed a replacement for its departing treasurer Arunma Oteh.

World Bank treasurer Arunma Oteh is leaving the institution in December this year to join Oxford University.

World Bank Group president Jim Yong Kim plans to take the new Human Capital Index he launched on Thursday to Davos in the new year, where he will urge CEOs of companies in lagging countries to invest in health and education.

Pledges by leading banks to pull back from financing “dirty” projects such as coal will be meaningless unless governments step in with regulations to prevent other investors taking their place, a senior banker has said.

The Development Bank of Japan was able to tighten pricing on a €700m October 2025 sustainability bond this week, something not every issuer has found possible in the currency in the past few weeks. Meanwhile, the World Bank tapped an old friend for $200m with a green bond.

Public sector bond market participants are growing increasingly frustrated at the pace of the implementation of Ester, the alternative euro risk-free rate to replace Euribor. Borrowers are unable to plan for, let alone issue, a bond linked to the benchmark without the rate being published by the European Central Bank. That leaves the euro far behind other markets where Libor is being replaced, writes Burhan Khadbai.

The State of California has bought $200m of short dated green bonds from the World Bank, the latest stage in a relationship that stretches back to the issuer’s first dollar green bond in 2009.