FundraiseOct 22, 2026, 16:35 UTC

CAF raises $2B in its largest-ever dollar bond after Moody's upgrade

What's the deal? Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF), the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, has raised $2 billion through 4.75% senior unsecured notes due 2031. Goldman Sachs, Nomura, Credit Agricole, HSBC and JPMorgan underwrote the offering, which was announced in October 2026.

Why now? The sale was CAF's first benchmark issuance after Moody's upgraded it to Aa1, the agency's highest rating. The notes priced at CAF's tightest-ever spread to US Treasury securities, with central banks and official institutions taking nearly half the allocations.

What's the endgame? CAF, a multilateral lender founded in 1968, finances economic development across its 25 sovereign shareholders in Latin America and the Caribbean, plus Spain and Portugal. Proceeds will go to general corporate purposes, including funding its lending operations.

This is CAF's largest US dollar transaction to date and the longest tenor of any of its dollar bonds. The notes are listed on the FCA official list and trade on the London Stock Exchange's main market.

By the numbers: The deal ranks in the 96th percentile by size among comparable post-IPO debt rounds, across a sample of more than 2,000 transactions. It also sits alongside a broader funding push: CAF recently launched a bond programme of up to $1 billion for child- and youth-focused projects.

The signal: The offering shows a multilateral lender converting improved credit standing and strong investor demand into capacity to finance regional development. With peer IDB issuing a $2.5 billion dollar benchmark in August, development banks are finding deep appetite for Latin American debt.