Coronavirus

Commodity derivatives trades are primed for a fillip from European regulators as the European Commission plans to relax position limits on their trading.

Coventry Building Society (CBS) is racing to price Economic Master Issuer 2020–1, with the help of arrangers HSBC and Lloyds, to meet the huge demand for the deal, which is a hybrid between a master trust structure and a standalone RMBS — the first of its kind. The transaction, set to herald the next step in master issuer structures, is an innovation which could open the door to more financial institutions committing to long-term RMBS programmes, writes Tom Brown.

The World Bank impressed with its first benchmark transaction of its new fiscal year this week as it received solid demand despite pricing tightly to match the spread it paid for a five year deal before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Smaller loan loss provisions and high capital ratios have helped Nordic lenders to kick off European bank earnings season in a positive fashion. But analysts are cautious about drawing any conclusions for the rest of the sector.

Central counterparty clearing houses (CCPs) could face increased attention and greater regulation after coming through the Covid-19 crisis in good shape, Fitch Ratings analysts said this week.

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) saw a window to market an additional tier one (AT1) bond on Wednesday, ahead of its second quarter earnings disclosure. It is looking to use the debt to boost its regulatory capital ratios.

The International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm) was set up in 2006 to provide funding to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, itself a public/private sector partnership, to expedite the vaccination of children in the poorest countries against endemic infectious diseases. Doris Herrera-Pol, IFFIm board member and former director of global capital markets at the World Bank, spoke to GlobalCapital about the role the capital markets can play in the development and deployment of a Covid-19 vaccine.

World Bank scored an impressive result with the first dollar benchmark of its new fiscal year as it priced at the joint-tightest level versus mid-swaps for a five year deal in the currency since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Bank of America was quick to return to the market after reporting its second quarter earnings, using a favourable backdrop on Monday to price a new dual-tranche offering in dollars.

Richard Livingstone, the British billionaire property developer, sold Skr5.5bn ($616m) of shares in Swedish online gambling company Evolution Gaming in an overnight trade on Monday, to help mitigate the effect of Covid-19 on his property portfolio.

The UK Debt Management Office intends to sell a new 15 year Gilt via syndication in early September for which it will seek feedback through a consultation with Gilt market participants next week.

A small deal size and investment grade ratings worked in GS Caltex Corp’s favour on Monday, allowing the South Korean oil refiner to price a tight $300m bond.