Wells Fargo Securities

Bank of East Asia (BEA) sold the first Basel III compliant tier two dollar bond in Asia since the global outbreak of Covid-19. It raised $600m on the back of a book that was more than 8.5 times oversubscribed at its peak.

European banks are expected to hit the dollar market in force over the coming weeks as they look to take advantage of an extended rally in spreads.

Bank of America became the first global commercial bank to print a Covid-19 response bond this week.

The Canton of Geneva took its 2020 funding up to almost Sfr1.2bn ($1.2bn) this week with a triple tranche deal — the most it has funded in a single year since 2013, according to Dealogic. Elsewhere, an attractive basis for dollar funders led a pair of rare issuers to return to the market.

Rabobank has become the first Dutch bank to enter the credit markets in over two months, after launching a non-preferred senior bond on Wednesday. The issuer tacked on a call option, which bankers say are cheap to deliver in the market at the moment.

Crédit Mutuel Arkéa paid a 'generous' 7bp of new issue premium for a preferred senior bond on Tuesday, taking advantage of a quiet market to attract attention from investors.

Wells Fargo was set to raise €3bn of senior debt in the euro market on Friday, becoming the first US bank to visit the currency following first quarter results.

A trio of Wall Street heavyweights tapped the dollar market in size this week, with investors pouring cash into new deals.

Financial institutions with funding needs that are holding off in anticipation of better issuance conditions are doing it wrong. Waiting until the other side of earnings season to bring deals will likely prove a mistake.

High quality Yankee issuers showed their spirit of adventure by printing front-end trades this week, returning to a part of the curve that has been starved of supply since the start of the coronavirus crisis.

US banks this week reported stellar returns from trading and underwriting in the first quarter, even as the bottom line was hit by gigantic writedowns and reserves for credit losses, as the economic and financial disruption from the coronavirus crisis took its toll.

US banks ramped up reserves for credit losses, expanded credit lines and enjoyed bumper trading and debt underwriting volumes in the first quarter, according to results released on Tuesday and Wednesday.