Bank of America

Turkey’s Ziraat Bank cut through questions about its ownership within Turkey's new sovereign wealth fund to print $600m at no extra cost on Tuesday.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on Tuesday equalled its largest ever size in dollars on Tuesday with a deal priced flat to or through its curve. The Asian Development Bank is set to follow in a market in which issuers are winning demand from investors starved of supply, said bankers.

Charles Wickham, co-head of loan capital markets for EMEA at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, will leave the bank at the end of April, having worked at BAML and Merrill Lynch since 1994.

Turkey’s Ziraat Bank was quick to take advantage of the recent rally in Turkish credit, opening books on a five year bond at 5.5% on Tuesday morning.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is set to bring a dollar benchmark to investors starved of supply in the currency. Despite dollar conditions being strong all month, no borrowers brought deals last week — perhaps because they preferred to wait for the first round of the French presidential election to pass on Sunday, said bankers.

Argentina’s third largest private sector bank has pencilled in the pricing of a $300m-equivalent peso-linked note for May 2, according to a regulatory filing made on Friday.

Drax Group, the UK energy holding company, held a roadshow on Wednesday and Thursday for a £500m fixed and floating rate senior secured bond offering, following its acquisition of Opus Energy earlier this year, and further increased it to £550m on Friday.

Strong volumes at the start of the year and an easy comparison quarter have meant the US banks have posted stonking sets of investment banking numbers in their first quarter reporting. Goldman’s trading numbers may have disappointed, but broader business is booming on Wall Street.

US banks stole the show in the FIG market this week after publishing their first quarter results, but European banks could soon return to their domestic currency if the French presidential elections give participants great clarity.

The lawsuits over alleged manipulation of the SSA market have spread further, with more dealers and individuals named in a court filing. Citi, HSBC, RBC and TD Bank have now been added, as well as Bank of America, Crédit Agricole, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Nomura. The suit also draws in the new issue market, alleging that the traders were able to front-run new issues yet to be announced or in book-building.

Two Russian borrowers are lining up bonds for next week with Credit Bank of Moscow set to issue its second capital trade of the year, and PhosAgro looking to finance a buyback with a new issue.

Wall Street’s heavyweights peppered the dollar market with big self-led callable deals after reporting a stream of strong first quarter earnings, with one notable exception.