Bank of America

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.

Shares in Cobham, the troubled UK aerospace and marine technology company, have risen 12% since the company’s shareholders gave their backing for the company’s second rights issue in 12 months on Wednesday.

Bank of America became the first US bank to target the euro market for new senior debt after publishing first quarter results, as the firm and its compatriot peers pile into the capital market for new total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) eligible deals.

Bank of America opened books on a four tranche dollar deal on Wednesday, following first quarter earnings and chasing huge senior transactions from its peers JP Morgan and Citi.

Theresa May stunned the UK on Tuesday by calling a snap general election, but equity capital markets remain calm and the next wave of IPOs is becoming more visible, with two more new deals announced this week.

Bank of America on Tuesday joined the other large US banks in announcing strong first quarter results, booking profits for the period of near $4.9bn, some 40% more than in the first quarter of last year.

VolkerWessels, the Dutch construction and property development group owned by the Wessels family, has announced its intention to float on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, over a decade after it was taken private in a buyout.