Barclays

An ex-SSA DCM banker has joined the UK's Financial Conduct Authority to focus on wholesale banking supervision.

Corporate bond investors were treated to a relative feast of issuance on Wednesday following a meagre €850m of supply in the first two days of the week. A trio of higher beta names offered a variety of tenors and spreads for investors to choose from.

Public sector borrowers wrapped up a trio of short end dollar trades on Tuesday, with the tightest issuer able to grind in pricing to the lowest level from an SSA this year and the higher yielding names finding ample demand despite ending up at similar spreads. SSA bankers are confident that the strong conditions will also ring true at the long end for KfW, which has mandated for its first 10 year dollar benchmark in nearly three years.

Italo, the private Italian operator of high speed trains founded by a former chairman of Ferrari, has announced its intention to float on Borsa Italiana, offering investors a “unique” opportunity to play the high speed rail market in Europe, according to a banker involved.

Spain’s 10 year benchmark weighed in at €10bn on Tuesday — its largest deal in four years — and drew an astonishing book of over €43bn.

Axilone, Comexposium and Hurtigruten have begun the syndication of a combined deal volume of €1.5bn, but European leveraged loan spreads are now so tight that some investors are heading for the exit.

A new role for Simon Ollerenshaw was announced internally at Barclays on Monday.

Spain, fresh from an upgrade to its Fitch credit rating, hit screens on Monday to announce a new 10 year euro benchmark. The sovereign will share the market with Agence Française de Développement (AFD).

Public sector borrowers are pouring into the three year part of the dollar curve after a series of issuers printed strong deals in the tenor last week.

Indian lender IndusInd Bank has sent invitations for a $500m borrowing, its largest from the overseas syndicated loan market.

The German private nursing care group Alloheim Senioren-Residenzen is out with a new leveraged loan offering to fund its buyout by Nordic Capital. This loan is among the first deals to be lined up to close in February, as hopes build of a surge of merger and acquisition driven borrowing.

Investors showed their faith in Tata Steel on Thursday, pouring money into the Indian issuer’s dual-tranche transaction, shrugging off the weak structure and aggressive pricing.