Banks

SMBC Nikko has hired Markus Steilen as managing director and head of continental European debt syndicate, based in Frankfurt, as it expands its capital markets capabilities in the region.

The UK issued a £4bn index-linked Gilt maturing in 2039 on Tuesday, experiencing hot demand as investors flocked to secure protection from the threat of inflation.

AstraZeneca, the UK drug maker, hit the euro market on Wednesday after printing $7bn across the Atlantic a day earlier. The borrower is building up funds to pay for its $39bn acquisition of US rival Alexion Pharmaceuticals.

Europe’s high grade corporate borrowers piled into the bond market on Wednesday to sell debt before the public holiday weekend in the UK. Investors showed no signs of indigestion on one of the busiest days of the year so far.

Hammerson, the UK property development company, launched a sustainability-linked bond through its Irish subsidiary on Wednesday, hoping to achieve a better cost of funds by printing a deal that was eligible for ECB buying. The still-nascent SLB market gave few comparables for the trade, leaving investors needing a range of metrics to try and determine fair value.

Polymetal, one of Russia’s largest gold producers, has added to its green debt by raising $400m from international lenders

Mizuho's new head of linear rates trading, Jason Cohen, has made three hires as he looks to build a franchise for the Japanese bank in EMEA.

Investors backed a small additional tier one deal from Jyske Bank on Wednesday, allowing the Danish bank to squeeze its coupon into a tight level.

ABN Amro brushed aside concerns about the bid for long end paper on Wednesday, as it secured a tight spread on a 12 year deal in the euro market. It was joined by a couple of other banks targeting more conventional maturities.

CaixaBank was set to launch its first sterling bond on Tuesday as it dipped its toes into a market that is now on course for its busiest week this year to date.

A favourable move in the basis swap allowed the Province of Quebec to return to the Swiss franc market after seven years away this week, landing its latest bond at a spread flat to its domestic curve.

JLEN Environmental Assets, an infrastructure fund, has signed a £170m-equivalent multicurrency sustainability-linked revolver, becoming the latest UK infrastructure company to switch to Sonia as its interest benchmark for sterling drawdowns.