RBC, Barclays price large issues tied to indexes; Wells Fargo sells deal linked to index basket

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, March 20 - Index-linked offerings were prevalent during the session, with both Royal Bank of Canada and Barclays Bank plc announcing sizable deals linked to indexes and Wells Fargo & Co. offering up securities linked to a basket of indexes.

RBC hit the market with $10 million of trigger autocallable optimization notes due March 24, 2017 linked to the Euro Stoxx 50 index.

If the index closes at or above the coupon barrier, which is 70% of the initial level, on a quarterly observation date, the investors will receive a contingent coupon for that quarter at an annual rate of 5.2%. Otherwise, no coupon is paid.

If the index closes at or above the initial level on any quarterly observation date beginning March 18, 2015, the notes will be called at par plus the contingent coupon.

If the notes are not called and the index finishes at or above the 70% trigger level, the payout is par plus the contingent coupon. Otherwise, investors are exposed to the index decline.

The underwriters were UBS Financial Services Inc. and RBC Capital Markets LLC.

On Thursday, the Euro Stoxx 50 index closed up 12.54 points to end at 3,088.90. For the year to date, the index has lost 0.65%. Over the last 52 weeks, the index has gained 14.03%.

Barclays notes price

Elsewhere during the session, Barclays brought $9.76 million of zero-coupon capped leveraged index-linked notes linked to the S&P 500 index.

The notes are due March 23, 2016.

Assuming the index return is positive, the investors will receive par plus triple the index return subject to a maximum payout of $1,210 per $1,000 of notes. Investors are exposed to any index decline.

Barclays was the underwriter.

The S&P 500 index climbed by 11.24 points on Thursday to close at 1,872.01.

Wells Fargo links to basket

In other pricing news, Wells Fargo offered $10 million of market-linked notes linked to a basket of indices.

The basket includes the S&P 500 with a 55% weight, the MSCI EAFE index with a 30% weight and the Russell 2000 index with a 15% weight.

The notes are due March 27, 2023. The payout at maturity is par plus 102.77% of any basket gain. Should the basket fall, payout at maturity is par.

Wells Fargo Securities LLC was the agent for the deal.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.