Bond Awards

GlobalCapital reveals today the winners of its Bond Awards 2021, including celebration of the achievement of top corporate banks and issuers — and Lifetime Achievement Awards for two of Europe’s most prominent corporate funding officials.

The unstoppable rise of sustainability-linked finance was arguably the most important trend in the bond market over the last year as it opened the door to socially responsible investment products for a swathe of issuers unable, for one reason or another, to issue green bonds.

The FIG debt capital markets business is as competitive as they come but TD Securities has established itself over the last few years by building a reputation as a house that will go the extra mile for issuers.

Rating emerging market debt is difficult at any time, with economic and financial conditions to track across more than 100 countries, but since the start of the Covid-19 crisis it became even harder, with locally very different health outcomes and policy responses all feeding through to issuers. Moody’s stayed on top by drawing on its longstanding depth and breadth of local knowledge while keeping a focus on key themes such as ESG.

The last year has seen green, social and sustainability-linked bonds go mainstream in almost every corner of the market, from sovereigns, to financial institutions and corporates.

Sustainability became the defining feature of late 2020 and 2021 capital markets, with ever more issuers and investors in more asset classes using more products than ever before. BNP Paribas has led the development of the market from sovereign green bonds to social and sustainability linked finance.

The green and SRI bond market has been through a dizzyingly fast development over the past year, powered by the appearance of some of the world’s largest public sector issuers, with two green bond entrants from the G7 and the return of a third. Crédit Agricole CIB, with its long-established ESG credentials, has been at the heart of the action.

Consistency, predictability and transparency were the watchwords for Moody’s financial institutions team over the last year as it navigated the extraordinary conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The primary debt markets have been looking for fintech solutions to reduce the administration costs of frequent shelf issuance for as long as MTN programmes have been in existence. Origin Markets has delivered a flexible system that at last digitalises every step involved in the creation of a security from its definition through to its settlement.

The arrival of the European Union’s €100bn Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) issuance programme in October 2020 catalysed secondary trading activity in the sovereigns, supranationals and agencies market. Tradeweb’s easily customisable platform has been giving both buy- and sell-side participants automated and efficient tools to take advantage of the opportunities SURE has opened up.

Corporate debt issuers were in the eye of the storm when the Covid-19 pandemic struck last year and around the globe and across sectors each was affected very differently. Moody’s consistent and transparent approach was crucial to helping investors navigate the period.

The immediate need for corporates in Europe during the Covid-19 crisis was to quickly tap liquidity but after debt capital markets re-opened, thoughts turned to future-proofing business models, balance sheets and funding strategies. BNP Paribas was perfectly placed to have those discussions with clients with an integrated coverage model that provided neutral capital structure advice.