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Taking it to the next level:
In 2021 the European Union completed its metamorphosis from second-tier issuer to sit side by side with the largest and most established borrowers in the SSAR space. Its funding operations increased substantially in volume and scope, with multiple size and demand records smashed along the way. For the second year running, the EU is IFR’s SSAR Issuer of the Year.
Ahead of the curve
For precision and excellence in a globe-trotting issuance programme, for leadership in capital innovation, and for charting a path to funding normality after the disruption of the pandemic, Bank of Nova Scotia is IFR’s Financial Issuer of the Year.
Electric year
If Ford Motor becomes the US market leader in electric vehicles and ESG financing, it may look back on 2021 as the year the rubber started to meet the road. For funding a major EV push, while cutting costs and attracting the greenest of capital, Ford is IFR’s Corporate Issuer of the Year.
Sovereign innovator
For its unmatched commitment to ESG bond funding while navigating an increased funding programme and a complex domestic backdrop of national elections and high inflation, the Republic of Chile is IFR’s Sustainable Issuer of the Year.
(Not) firing on all cylinders
Lucid Group raced onto the capital markets with speed rarely seen before, going public by merging with a SPAC to begin the year and later funding with a convertible bond to crystallise a premium valuation, despite only fledgling commercial operations. The sequence of deals makes up IFR’s Financing Package of the Year.
The promise of greater efficiency – and cost savings – from the automation of debt capital markets appears to be getting closer, given the rising number of platforms or applications being marketed to syndicate desks. We’re not there yet but we might just see evidence of progress this year – at least in some parts of the new issue continuum.
The true effects of Brexit on Europe’s capital markets have yet to be felt, but they will be far-reaching as divergence accelerates in 2022 and the EU takes a tough line on cross-border arrangements.
Capital markets in the US have rallied around the fight to address environmental, social and governance issues, responding to the Biden administration’s increasing emphasis on climate change.
When India’s Masala bond market was launched in 2014, the hope was that it would become a vibrant issuance arena underpinned by deep secondary liquidity and a wide variety of foreign investors and traders. To say that the market has disappointed would be an understatement, but hope springs eternal and optimists are calling a turn.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange is restructuring in a process designed to rationalise its board structure, improve corporate governance and attract more investors to Japan. But do the changes go far enough?
