Canada

Bank of Nova Scotia returned to the dollar market with its first new trade in five months this week, after reporting its fiscal first quarter earnings. It was followed by Truist Financial selling an inaugural social bond.

Tryg Forsikring found strong demand for a new restricted tier one (RT1) bond in the Swedish market on Wednesday, as it looked to optimise its capital structure in preparation for the purchase of RSA Insurance Group’s Nordic businesses.

A pair of sovereigns privately placed century bonds this week, with one of the borrowers — Ireland — dipping below the 1% point for the first time at this sort of tenor.

CPPIB Capital made a strong return to the 10 year part of the euro curve on Wednesday, with a book over two times covered and a new issue premium of just 1bp. Bremen also hit the euro market, selling €500m of 30 year paper through its curve.

The size of a covered bond liquidity buffer that protects investors against the risk of payment disruption should be an important risk consideration, but there is no incentive to play safe as regulatory and central bank treatment of the asset class play more pivotal roles in valuations.

Two SSA borrowers hit screens on Tuesday to announce benchmark bonds. Deal flow in the SSA market has slowed after the January rush, but borrowers are still keeping investors busy with a regular flow of deals.

Canada’s Equitable Bank has registered its covered bond programme this week. It expects to issue its first transaction in euros at the short end of the curve in the second quarter.

The Province of Alberta made a rare appearance in the Kangaroo market on Wednesday, printing A$100m with a February 2046 bond. Daiwa Capital Markets ran the books.

GlobalCapital is delighted to announce the nominees for this year’s Americas Derivatives Awards.

Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of business on Monday, January 25. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services.

Four US global banking titans roared out of earnings blackout to raise more than $20bn of debt this week, issuing deals either side of president Joe Biden’s inauguration.

Royal Bank of Canada issued a tightly priced €1.25bn 10 year covered bond on Tuesday. While it only attracted just enough demand for it, the long tenor, investor diversification, cost of funding and deal size were positives for the borrower.