Colombia

Colombian bank GNB Sudameris held investor calls on Monday ahead of a proposed Basel III-compliant subordinated note that could be priced as soon as Tuesday. This will be GNB’s third attempt to issue in the past year.

Latin American oil and gas company GeoPark may return to bond markets in the near future as it looks to finance a tender offer for up to $255m of its $425m of 6.5% senior unsecured 2024s.

As financial institutions across asset classes raised gender-themed funding this week, Colombia’s vice-president Marta Lucía Ramirez took International Women’s Day as a chance to hail the potential of the sovereign using bond markets to fund its gender equality initiatives.

As Colombia works on the initial stages of developing a social bond framework, the sovereign has identified gender and immigration as two of its key pillars.

Colombia has increased its external funding programme for the year to over $10bn after forecasting a larger 2021 fiscal deficit than it recorded in 2020, exacerbating concerns about the government’s ability to maintain its investment grade credit rating.

Colombian state-owned oil and gas company Ecopetrol said it would issue new debt and equity to fund a proposed takeover of the government’s 51.41% stake in conglomerate ISA (Interconexión Eléctria), should the finance ministry accept its offer.

Colombia’s public credit head told GlobalCapital that the sovereign had wanted to move quickly to get ahead of potential volatility as it printed $2.84bn of new bonds this week as part of a liability management operation. The official said that the early-year sell-off in US Treasuries had not tainted what was a strong issuance window.

Colombia tapped international bond markets for the first time since June this week. But it is the country's domestic bond market — which is 25% owned by foreign investors — that could be in for a particularly notable year, with the sovereign set to turn to pesos for its debut green bond in July. It is also laying the ground for a social bond and a government bond ETF.

Two of Latin America’s most established borrowers, the Colombian sovereign and Brazilian bank Itaú, returned to international bond markets on Tuesday. Though both issues were priced roughly as expected, bankers on and away from the trades said there were signs that Lat Am’s roaring start to 2021 was losing steam.

Banco Santander has become the 14th primary dealer in the domestic Colombian government bond market, said the finance ministry, representing the first expansion of the sovereign’s market makers since 2016.

Despite funding stresses in certain Latin American countries, bond markets will continue to help the region with its financing needs. For now, this eases the pressure for reform and fiscal consolidation, but issuers must eventually face up to political and social turbulence. Oliver West reports.

Banco de la República (BanRep), the central bank of Colombia, has elected a former board member as its next governor, in a move unlikely to signal any major changes in the bank’s policy.