ABN Amro

The Dutch arm of Air France-KLM staved off what looked like certain collapse this week, with the company negotiating a deal with a pilot’s union to put a vital €3.4bn government bailout back on course.

Valuations carried on climbing in the bank bond market on Thursday, as investors appeared keen to look beyond the uncertain outcome of the US presidential election.

Some market participants say the European Central Bank could open itself up to buying preferred senior bank debt if it expands its purchase programmes in December.

The Dutch arm of Air France-KLM has negotiated a deal with the country's pilot’s union, putting a vital €3.4bn government bailout back on course.

Fresh lockdown restrictions added to a sense of anxiety in Europe at the start of the week, with credit markets already on tenterhooks ahead of the US presidential election.

Euronav, the Belgium based crude oil tanker company, has signed a $713m loan package, as the sector outlook turns bleak after a strong start to the year because of an overproduction of oil.

FIG borrowers may be well funded, but rates are low and market conditions are good enough to support opportunistic issuance — as was shown this week by a slate of deals across the capital structure. Given a volatile end to 2020 is likely, issuers will need to stay alert and take advantage of funding windows as they arise, write Frank Jackman and Bill Thornhill.

Argenta Spaarbank, Belfius Bank and Jyske Bank took differing approaches to sell €500m no-grow senior bonds this week — Argenta offered a substantial new issue premium, while the latter pair pushed their pricing close to fair value.

Crédit Agricole and Nykredit Realkredit were able to push aggressively on pricing in the additional tier one (AT1) market this week, as they took advantage of favourable supply and demand dynamics.

Nykredit Realkredit was set to launch its first additional tier one (AT1) in over five years on Tuesday, tightening its pricing by more than 50bp to close in on a level that looked close to fair value.

Argenta Spaarbank attracted attention from investors with a 15bp new issue premium on Tuesday, allowing it to raise €500m of non-preferred senior debt for the minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL).

German railway wagon lessor VTG has sold €550m of private placements to institutional investors in Europe and the US, according to market sources. More and more, US PPs are being marketed to traditional Euro PP investors.