| Source: Cabei |
The Central American Bank for Economic Integration, Cabei, may stage a return to the Japanese yen bond market, where it has current documentation but has not issued for several years, its funding head has told LatinFinance.
A deal would be part of the multilateral lender’s bid to maintain a diverse investor base as it raises its $800m funding target for 2015, Ricardo Rico, head of capital and financial markets, told LatinFinance.
“We didn’t tap the Japanese market this year because the levels, even though they were okay, we found better levels in other markets, like the Swiss market or the euro market. But perhaps next year there will be a chance. We can keep an eye on that market. ”
Cabei is also exploring options to tap Middle East investors – with a sukuk on the table – and plans to return to niche markets where it already has a following, including Taiwan, Australia, Switzerland and Mexico.
The bank sold a Swiss franc bond earlier this month, following an offshore renminbi sale from Taiwan – dubbed a Formosa bond – in October, and a note denominated in Mexican pesos in July.
Cabei has a commercial paper program in New York, and borrows in euros through private placements. The lender stays away from the dollar market where large liquid benchmarks are preferred because of the small size of its funding needs. That may change in the years ahead if the A1/A/A rated borrower secures a hoped-for upgrade.
“A few years’ down the road if we get the double-A that we’re aiming for, perhaps a door will open up for us in the sense that more central banks and SSA investors will be interested in the name and perhaps we can think of doing a benchmark issuance in US dollars or euros.” LF