Banks

The UK Debt Management Office on Friday announced the syndicate that will run its forthcoming tap of the 2054 Gilt, as well as its plans for a further Gilt syndication to be held during the third quarter of 2019.

Issuance is starting to resume after the summer break; however, this week a booming public market drew away investor and issuer attention from MTNs. Despite this, a range of established SSA, FIG and corporate borrowers have slipped in, with deals across core, niche and EM currencies.

MEA-based waste management services provider Averda has amended and extended an existing term loan facility, garnering 70% oversubscription.

CK Hutchison Holdings has launched a takeout deal into syndication to replace a €10.4bn bridge loan raised by Wind Tre, an Italian company it acquired last year.

Rare international bond issuer Export-Import Bank of India turned to Japan this week for a yen-denominated deal. The ¥32bn ($301.2m) trade was its first standalone Samurai bond since 2006.

Bank of Communications Financial Leasing Co priced a small $600m dual-tranche transaction, attracting twice as much interest on a floating rate note compared to a fixed rate bond.

European and US banks are facing pressure to become more diverse, for reasons of business and ethics. One senior investment banker at UniCredit, which has implemented a far-reaching initiative in the area, said that the logic is clear.

Europe’s corporate bond market has made a remarkably strong start to the autumn issuing season, with €14bn of euro and sterling issuance in the first two open days for issuance (Tuesday and Wednesday) and another €1.5bn on Thursday.

US corporate bond desks are braced for the busiest month of the year when September supply kicks off after the Labor Day holiday on September 2, but negative rates in Europe have raised the prospect of US companies shunning the dollar market.

Buy and sell-side firms have rejected suggestions that they should have to post additional margin or participate in default funds in the aftermath of last year’s default at Nasdaq clearing.

After two huge days of corporate bond issuance, Thursday was much quieter, with issues only from Vier Gas Transport and SBB Norden — not because the market was worse, but just because most of the issuers that wanted to come this week had crowded into the first two days.

The World Bank is planning to add fully digital cash settlement, multiple currencies and more nodes to its ‘bond–i’ platform, according to a banker involved in developing the blockchain system. Earlier this month, the supranational added tap functionality, as it raised A$50m ($33.7m) of capital.