CAF Receives Bank Funding Team of the Year Award

The “Bonds & Loans Latin America & Caribbean Awards 2022,” which recognize corporate and financial institutions, issuers and innovators, presented CAF—development bank of Latin America—with an award as the “Bank Funding Team of the Year” for its placements made during 2021 and early 2022. The award ceremony will take place on November 30 this year.

One of the aspects that Bonds & Loans took into account to choose the winners was the evaluation of the size, yield, structure and distribution of the agreement or issue, analysis and background of the borrower and accessibility to financing, giving greater value to agreements that demonstrate high quality execution, innovative structuring and opening of new markets.

The most important transactions that helped CAF earn this award included:

1. USD 400 million, 3-year, private placement SOFR variable rate bond: The bond was issued in June 2021 and positioned CAF as the first Latin American issuer to place SOFR-linked bonds for a whopping USD 400 million. JP Morgan was the structuring bank.
2. USD 1 billion, 3-year Global Bond: 1.25% annual coupon with a 1.364% yield. The transaction reached a record order book of over USD 2 billion. This was an all-time high for a CAF USD transaction. Barclays, BNPP, Daiwa and J.P. Morgan were the structuring banks of the bond.
3. EUR 1.25 billion, 5-year Euro bond: This transaction was the largest bond in CAF’s history, with a 0.25% coupon and February 2026 maturity. Similarly, the coupon was the lowest level achieved by CAF in a public issue in EUR. This record transaction attracted demand from investors globally, reaching an order book close to EUR 2 trillion. Structuring banks included Barclays, BBVA, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan.
4. First green bond in the Swiss market: In February 2021, CAF’s first green bond was publicly issued in the Swiss market for a total of CHF 350 million, with a 5-year yield and a 0.46% coupon.
5. Private placements in Mexican market: During 2021 and until the first quarter of 2022, USD 713 million equivalent were issued in the Mexican market, in private format at a fixed and inflation rate. A total of four notes were executed with yields between 5 and 10 years, one of these notes being locally registered.

CAF issues bonds in the main capital markets including the U.S., Europe, Japan and Australia. Its bond portfolio has a total of 17 different currencies and its financing plan in recent years averages USD 4 billion. In addition, CAF has a green and social bond program.

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