Société Générale

Gunvor, the Swiss energy trader, has signed a $1.1bn credit facility through its US arm a week after completing a similarly sized deal for its European operations, with five new lenders joining the annual US refinancing.

The European Union’s third outing to fund its Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency programme is set to hit the market on Tuesday in the shape of a 15 year tenor — matching the maturity of its loans.

Carmila, the French shopping centre owner, rode the positive sentiment generated by news of another promising Covid-19 vaccine on Monday to launch a sub-benchmark bond. Bankers expect such opportunistic, small scale deals to dominate corporate issuance for the rest of the year.

The Republic of Uzbekistan, which debuted in international debt markets just last year, sold a dual currency bond this week, as foreign investors eyed up an Uzbek som tranche.

French companies Schneider Electric and LafargeHolcim pushed the fledgling sustainability-linked bond asset class to new levels this week, helping quell vocal concerns from some investors that having an unspecified use of proceeds means the structure has no place in ESG portfolios, write Mike Turner and Aidan Gregory.

Belgian insurer Ageas sold its first deal in almost a year this week, with the spread on offer helping to drive demand to more than three times covered.

The People’s Republic of China returned to the European market on Wednesday, part of its plan to make euro bond outings an annual exercise. The €4bn transaction was a blow-out, with the order book well oversubscribed — and one of the three tranches achieving the sovereign’s first negative yield. Morgan Davis reports.

As investors sought gold and silver as a hedge against inflation and uncertainty, investment banks with the capabilities to act in these markets benefitted. Some made more than $100m in precious metals in the third quarter, according to Coalition Greenwich.

LafargeHolcim, the French-Swiss construction materials company, breezed past fair value on its debut sustainability-linked bond (SLB) on Tuesday, helping dampen concerns from some corners of the market that investors might struggle to get comfortable with the structure’s unspecified use of proceeds.

A pair of smaller names were tempted into the euro market on Tuesday, after Monday’s news that scientists have developed another successful vaccine for Covid-19 led to a further improvement of market conditions.

The People’s Republic of China is planning a comeback to the euro bond market this week, one month after selling its first dollar trade in the US.

The high grade corporate bond market burst into life on Monday, with mandates for a diverse range of trades from hybrids to sustainability-linked bonds hitting screens to take advantage of the unexpectedly positive November issuance window.