Brazil

After three consecutive years of record volumes, in 2015 Latin American bond market momentum was halted by crises in Brazil and plunging commodity prices. Though volatility will continue and issuers and investors often struggle to meet on price, the market looks mature enough for a modest recovery in 2016. Oliver West reports.

Despite the currency tanking against the dollar in 2015, investment in Brazilian real denominated medium term notes is at a healthy level.

Bad news seems determined to afflict Brazil until the very end of the year as Joaquim Levy’s resignation on Friday sent bonds to new lows with much of the market in holiday mode.

For most observes it had already become a matter of time. Standard & Poor’s had already made Brazil a sub-investment grade borrower and both Fitch and Moody’s had Latin America’s largest sovereign on review for downgrade.

Good news from the US Federal Reserve — in the form of a more dovish rate announcement than some market participants had expected — brought a sanguine close to a turbulent week for credit derivatives and boosted equity markets, but only added to the pressure on emerging market countries and their currencies.

Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer Tonon Bioenergia has filed for bankruptcy after many months of battling low prices, and Standard & Poor’s is pessimistic on bondholders’ recovery chances.

Brazil took a step closer to sub-investment grade status on Wednesday when Moody’s placed its Baa3 rating on review for downgrade.

Huw Jenkins will need all of his powers of persuasion and banking know-how if BTG Pactual, where he is a founding partner, is to halt its downward spiral.

Brazil iron ore pellet producer Samarco Mineração’s bonds hit the mid 30s on Tuesday as Fitch reduced the borrower’s rating from BBB to BB- a month after two of the company’s dams burst in the state of Minas Gerais, causing heavy human and environmental damage.

André Esteves resigned from his positions as chairman of the board and chief executive of BTG Pactual on Sunday following his arrest on November 25 as part of Brazilian authorities’ investigation into corruption at Petrobras.

Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES) has bought back $640m of senior unsecured notes at a discount, taking advantage of sub-par dollar prices and its strong cash position to reduce its debt burden.

The arrest of BTG Pactual’s chairman and chief executive dragged the Brazilian banking sector into the Petrobras corruption investigation this week, as bond market participants said fears were running high that Lava Jato would uncover even more skeletons in the closet.