Carige takes centre stage in global issuance spurt

Covered bond primary activity took off on Thursday after the US government voted to extend the debt ceiling deadline to February 7 next year. As many as four issuers from Italy, Hungary, New Zealand and Canada opened books for new benchmarks. But the star turn was Italy’s Banca Carige which, despite strong headwinds, attracted a resounding endorsement from investors for its first deal since March 2011.