The Week That Was (18-24 April, 2022)

US primary market issuances rose significantly to $47.9bn vs. $17bn in the week prior with Investment grade (IG) corporates issuing $47.6bn of deals while high yield (HY) issuances were at nil. The largest IG deals were dominated by US banking majors after their earnings release – BofA, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley raised $8.75bn, $8.5bn and $7bn each via a four-part issuances. In North America, there were a total of 24 upgrades and 8 downgrades combined across the three major rating agencies last week. LatAm saw $882mn in issuances last week as compared to $664mn in the prior week, with Banco Safra raising $500mn and Arcos Dorados raising $350mn. In South America, there were 4 upgrades and 2 downgrades across the major rating agencies. EU Corporate G3 issuances stood at $11.3bn vs. $9.1bn in the week prior, led by KfW raising €4bn and BPCE’s €1.5bn deals. Across the European region, there were 12 upgrades and 8 downgrades across the three major rating agencies. The GCC G3 region saw almost no new deals last week. Across the Middle East/Africa region, there were 2 upgrades and 9 downgrades across the three major rating agencies. APAC ex-Japan G3 issuances stood at $12.8bn vs. $4.1bn in the week before. This was led by CSL’s $4bn six-part issuance, TSMC’s $3.5bn four-trancher, BOC’s $2.54bn multi-currency deal. In the APAC region, there was 1 upgrade and 12 downgrades combined across the three major rating agencies last week.