Banks

China Construction Bank Corp has sold the first Basel III-compliant tier two bond from China since the global outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, raising $2bn.

Chinese real estate developer Zhongliang Holdings Group Co took $250m from a sub-one year bond on Wednesday, prioritising size over price for the deal.

Angus Whelchel, former global head of private capital markets at Barclays, has been hired by US boutique advisory group Moelis & Co to head its private capital markets team.

It was another scorching day in Europe’s high grade market on Wednesday following further central bank-created exuberance, as investors piled more than €55bn of orders into deals from across the spectrum of ratings and sectors.

The Financial Conduct Authority has fined Commerzbank £38m for anti-money laundering failures. One lawyer said the supervisor would be looking for similar culprits.

The European Investment Bank and the State of Brandenburg have mandated banks to bring euro deals on Thursday, in what has been an extremely thin week for supply with issuers well funded and some weakness in secondaries.

Société Générale has promoted Kokou Agbo-Bloua to global head of economics, cross-asset and quant research.

One of the sectors so far unscathed through the pandemic, in the eyes of institutional investors, has been UK social housing. Deals from housing associations have been priced during the crisis, as several institutions have said their resolve to invest in the sector remains undimmed.

Sharjah Islamic Bank’s sukuk trade on Tuesday showed that emerging market bond investors are eager to buy the right FIG paper, which has been lacking from recent new issuance.

DZ Hyp managed to raise €1bn of eight year Pfandbrief funding flat to its curve on Wednesday. The deal contrasted with one from Axa Banque SFH, which paid a much larger premium for a €500m 15 year, possibly due to far higher French supply this year and confusion with Axa Banque Europe SCF, which has already entered the market four times this year.

Legal & General’s order books peaked at over £4bn ($4.96bn) as it made its first sale of restricted tier one (RT1) capital this week, joining many of its UK peers in the asset class. The insurer used the popularity of its trade to tighten the pricing and leave no new issue premium behind.

Virgin Money secured its first foothold in the euro market on Wednesday, selling €500m of senior debt from its holding company as part of a deal that had been initially been postponed because of Covid-19 concerns.