Banks

World Bank extended its euro benchmark curve with flying colours on Wednesday, in a further sign of ample demand for duration amid a low yielding environment.

Commerzbank has appointed Sabrina Kensy as head of the Mittelstandsbank for a large part of Germany. She replaces Michael Kotzbauer, who took up a post as board member for the bank's corporate clients division at the beginning of this year.

The prickly start to the year continued in Europe’s corporate bond market on Wednesday, as hybrid issues for Spanish toll road firm Abertis Infraestructuras and German oil and gas firm Wintershall Dea received opposite reactions from investors.

Wizz Air proved on Wednesday that markets are open for even those debut emerging market issuers in affected sectors. The European airline raised a benchmark sized bond in its inaugural euro transaction.

The covered bond market went from famine to feast on Wednesday with a wide array of deals that all went very well.

The Sultanate of Oman's return to debt markets is proof to some that the market is wide open for high yielding emerging market issuers. The sovereign mandated banks for a dollar deal as investors, hunting for yield, appear undeterred by volatility in the US rates market.

Komerční banka sold the Czech Republic’s first euro denominated benchmark covered bond on Wednesday, landing flat to the curve of its Slovakian neighbours despite the European Central Bank’s absence from the book.

Volvo Cars, the Chinese-owned Swedish auto maker, has refinanced its main bank revolver with a €1.3bn sustainability-linked revolving credit facility, as the borrower looks to become climate neutral by 2040.

DZ Bank said this week that it will redeem eight tier one bonds issued out of special purpose vehicles, in preparation of the EU’s Capital Requirements Regulation transition period ending.

Indian Railway Finance Corp (IRFC) will hit the market next week with the country’s first IPO of the year. It is on track to raise up to Rp46.33bn ($633.7m).

China Maple Leaf Educational Systems debuted in the equity-linked market on Tuesday with a $125m convertible bond.

State-owned electricity generator China Huaneng Group Co priced a dual-tranche $1bn bond on Tuesday, overcoming complications emerging from rising US Treasury rates and geopolitical concerns.