Jordan issued a US$1bn 10-year Eurobond paying a coupon of 5.75% to yield 5.8%, according to the country's Minister of Finance Omar Malhas. Citigroup and JP Morgan managed the sale.
Iran is currently in talks with South Korea over the former’s return to international bond markets, according to Shapour Mohammadi, Iran’s Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) chairman. The last time Iran sold bonds internationally was in 2002, when it placed €625mn in notes.
Mexico priced a €1.9bn dual-tranche bond, including a new €1.2bn 8-year tranche at 99.127 to yield 1.489%, and 2.20% on a €700mn tap of its 3.375% 2031s. The sovereign managed to tighten pricing by 10-20bp from IPTs for both tranches. BNP Paribas, Citigroup and Santander are bookrunners on the trade.
Eight GCC banks - the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), Commercial Bank of Dubai, Dunia Finance, Emirates NBD, HSBC, National Bank of Fujairah, RAKBank and Union National Bank - signed an agreement this week to expand their sustainable finance operations in the region. The Dubai Declaration, signed in partnership with the UAE Government and UNEP Finance Initiative, will see the banks double down on sustainable project funding in order to help fill a funding gap estimated at AED10bn.
Brazil's Congress supported a crucial spending cap bill in a second round of vote, with 359 lawmakers supporting the measure. Only 308 votes were needed for the bill to pass.
Standard & Poor's (S&P) has downgraded the credit rating of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) from 'CC' to 'SD' citing an underwhelming distressed debt exchange and struggling cashflows. The comes as the economic and political environment in Venezuela continues to erode. Earlier this week the country's parliament voted to begin impeachment proceedings against President Nicolás Maduro.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has this week named the country's Central Bank director Mario Marcel as the new head of the Bank, a role he will assume in December. The country's Central Bank has been relatively successful at keeping inflation within target range, a rarity in Latin America in recent years, and markets largely welcomed the former World Bank director's appointment.
The Province of Santa Fe announced a US$250mn (will not grow) 11-year bond yielding 6.9%, slightly tighter than IPTs (Low 7%). JP Morgan is acting as global coordinator and bookrunner. Citigroup and HSBC are also bookrunners on the transaction.
The Sultanate of Oman will look to borrow up to US$10bn over the next four years in order to help meet the government's spending objectives, according to the country's Central Bank chief. Oman has already borrowed extensively in the capital markets this year, raising over US$2.5bn in a series of international bonds, sukuks and private placements.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) plans to tighten regulations for credit rating agencies in a bid to increase transparency and accountability throughout the process, according to officials with knowledge of the plans.
Hungary’s Central Bank left its key interest rate unchanged this week but cut its overnight lending rate by 10bp to 1.05%, and lowered banks’ mandatory reserve ratio from 2% to 1%, and signalled further easing measures could be on the horizon.
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) will change its Macro Prudential Assessment (MPA) risk assessment tool to include off-balance financing at commercial banks when assessing the health and the state of the broader financial system, according to a report form Reuters. The move comes amidst increasing concern over the health of the country's banking system, and the opaque practices and measures it deploys to assess the state of the economy.
China's MTR Corp issued its first green bond this week, US$600mn in 10-year notes paying a semi-annual coupon of 2·5% and priced at 99·675 to yield 2·537% (UST+80bp). The notes were issued under its US$4bn debt issuance programme. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and HSBC managed the trade.
Indonesia's largest property developer, Lippo Karawaci, raised US$425mn in 10-year bonds this week. The company said it received over US$1.5bn in bids for the notes, the proceeds of which will be used to repay its existing 2020 maturities. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas, and Deutsche Bank acted as joint global coordinators, while Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, and UBS acted as joint bookrunners for trade.