Banks

UniCredit said on Wednesday that it is one of the banks suspected of violating European Union competition rules in the purchase and trading of European government bonds between 2007 and 2012.

German defence firm Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) has signed a €350m loan, amid a wave of mid-market activity in the European loan market.

Ecobank Transnational, the pan-African banking group based in Togo, has set the yield for a $400m five year bond at 9.75%. The size indicated is at the lower end of the $400m-$500m range it suggested earlier in the day.

Nexi, the Italian payments firm listing in Milan, is to price its IPO at €9 a share, just off the bottom of its initial price range.

Singapore’s United Overseas Bank this week set a new benchmark after the country introduced an enhanced bank resolution regime allowing the statutory bail-in of subordinated debt. Addison Gong reports.

Private equity firm CVC Partners sold a large part of its stake in Indonesian clothing retailer Map Aktif Adiperkasa (Map Active) on Wednesday, taking part in a $296m secondary sale targeted to international investors.

Bank of China sold another blockbuster Belt and Road transaction on Wednesday, raising $3.8bn across eight tranches of notes in five currencies across five bank branches, It was the largest transaction sold under the BRI label.

Sacyr, the Spanish construction company, enjoyed a strong reception from equity-linked investors on Wednesday when it issued a new convertible bond that was increased to €175m off the back of unexpected demand from long-only funds.

Nomura has put at risk a number of senior bankers in its Americas investment banking operation and refurbished its management team as part of a $1bn plan to cut costs. Senior names in M&A, leveraged finance, Latin America and risk solutions are leaving.

Commerzbank analysts had been expecting a “very constructive market” in Swiss francs this week, bolstered by supportive cross-currency swaps and an uptick in the secondary market. It is questionable, however, if anybody foresaw the explosion of volume on Tuesday, when more than Sfr1bn ($997m) of new issuance had been priced by early afternoon.

China’s Shenwan Hongyuan Group Co launched its Hong Kong IPO on Thursday, seeking upwards of $1.3bn from the sale.

India’s JSW Steel raised $500m in an opportunistic transaction on Wednesday, marking the company’s first dollar bond in two years.