Wells Fargo Securities

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has hit screens with its debut trade linked to the secure overnight financing rate (Sofr), with the issuer the third in quick succession to mirror the coupon technique found in the Sonia bond market.

The US corporate bond market continued to crank out investment grade deals despite fears of a global recession battering risk assets this week.

Lloyds Bank dipped into dollars for senior funding on Wednesday, a day after UBS launched a deal in the same currency. A syndicate official noted that European financial institutions are being tempted across the Atlantic amid more inhospitable conditions in the euro market this summer.

The UK’s Helical has amended and extended its bank debt, with the office real estate firm ramping up the size of its revolving credit facility to £400m.

FedEx has returned to the euro market for the second time in 2019. Having issued a €640m 3.3 year back in January, the Baa2/BBB US logistics company printed a €1bn six and 12-year dual-tranche on Monday. After a drop in reverse Yankee issuance last year, the euro market has proven attractive to US issuers this year, with a steady stream of deals through the first half of 2019.

Fiona Gallagher has left her position as global head of security services and chief country officer for Ireland at Deutsche Bank and will become CEO for Wells Fargo Bank International Unlimited Company (WFBI).

The prospect of a blockbuster bond deal from US pharmaceutical group AbbVie was welcomed by dollar bond investors this week, after corporate issuance tumbled to its lowest monthly tally this year.

The sterling corporate bond market has shown surprising strength for issuers in short maturities this year, but on Wednesday its traditional forte shone through — the ultra-long end, where, as so often, the curve is inverted. Berkshire Hathaway found such good funding there that it scrapped a planned euro issue altogether and raised £1.75bn in sterling.

US utilities continued to dominate dollar corporate bond issuance this week, as defensive names piled into the market before trade tensions slammed the brakes on supply on Wednesday. But issuers fought back on Thursday.

Triton International, a global shipping container firm based in Bermuda, has amended and extended a $1.25bn revolving credit facility, cutting its debt cost in the process.

Wells Fargo has appointed John Langley as head of the corporate and investment bank for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Langley was previously head of global financing and risk solutions at Barclays.

The dollar corporate bond market showed its resilience this week as issuance rebounded, despite the US-China trade turmoil. “Trump, Trump, Trump,” was how one syndicate manager explained the reasons for the return of volatility as high grade credit markets see-sawed with the President’s mood swings.