Banks

Thomas Cook bonds traded down more than 12 points on Thursday in heavy volume, as the UK holidays group announced a new first-ranking loan for the winter season, a big goodwill writedown that took its pre-tax loss to £1.4bn, and a big drawdown on its revolving credit facility.

The EU has fined five big banks about €1.1bn in total after it found that some of their currency traders were involved in a foreign exchange cartel.

Kangaroo investors filled their pouches to the brim with a bumper World Bank tap on Wednesday. The supranational reopened its February 2024 Kangaroo to print the largest Aussie dollar tap in the SSA market since 2016.

Société de Financement Local (SFIL) has picked banks to sell its first benchmark in euros this year.

The Dutch government is preparing to issue its first green bond next week, and has introduced a new feature to the market: investors can register as accredited green bond investors to receive preferential allocations.

Japan Bank of International Co-operation and the Municipal Finance Authority of British Columbia gave investors more ways to invest their stacks of dollars on Thursday, though syndicate bankers say the pent up demand for bonds in the currency is still far from satiated.

Germany’s Stadtwerke München has amended its €500m revolving credit facility to add a sustainability element, as the nascent loan structure starts making further inroads with the country's borrowers.

France’s Eiffage has doubled the size of its revolving credit line to €2bn, with the civil engineering construction company becoming the latest name to add social and environmental language to its loan documentation.

A trio of French companies moved ahead with Schuldschein deals this week, and bankers expect the coming weeks to be packed with borrowers seeking to raise funds before the summer.

Germany’s Dürr Group has launched a €150m sustainability-linked Schuldschein, as borrowers continue to crowd the market, looking to complete deals ahead of the summer break.

The frenetic pace of buying seen in covered bonds issued earlier this month may have ebbed as rates market volatility has increased, but Thursday’s dual tranche offering from ING DiBA showed that demand is still vigorous.

Ceske Drahy, the Czech national railway company, hit screens on Thursday announcing a euro benchmark, returning to the bond market for the first time in three years.