Barclays

Autoroutes du Sud de la France, the French toll road operator, tested the investment grade euro corporate bond market’s taste for tenor on Thursday with a 10 year trade.

Searing conditions in the sterling market could lead to a record opening week of SSA issuance in the currency as a pair of issuers lined up deals for Friday — despite this only being a four day week.

A dual tranche global deal from the Asian Development Bank on Wednesday at least temporarily dashed hopes that this year could be strong for 10 year dollar benchmark issuance — although some bankers away from the trade felt that the problems were idiosyncratic rather than reflective of demand.

KfW and Ireland brought euro deals on Wednesday at the very top end of size expectations, alleviating a little of the pressure on what is set to be an extremely busy year in the currency. The trades came the same day as Municipality Finance mandated for a euro benchmark and a request for proposals came from the European Financial Stability Facility.

The European Investment Bank set a marker on Wednesday that sterling issuance could be just as hot this month as it was in January last year — as another pair of issuers hoped to add further evidence of that this week.

Barclays pulled in $1.5bn for a 30 year senior bond as part of a four-tranche offering worth $5bn, as five Yankee FIG borrowers powered through the first global window of 2017.

Israel became the first emerging market sovereign to put down a marker in the bond market this year with the announcement of a European roadshow next week.

Likely faced with an assault course of volatility inducing events this year, emerging market issuers will be keen to raise cash early before Brexit/Trump/rate rises/European elections (delete as appropriate) come to blight the market.

KommuneKredit and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will reopen the dollar market for SSA borrowers on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the EIB is lining up to perform the same service in sterling bonds.

The UK’s decision to leave the European Union cast extreme uncertainty over the economy, the values and even the unity of the country. Its ramifications for domestic companies’ financing capabilities has been both more obvious and more benign, however. Max Bower reports.

Lloyds’ purchase of Bank of America’s credit card business MBNA will hit its common equity tier one ratio, but analysts believe the 80bp decline in will be "easily manageable".

Four European lenders have turned down a $2bn loan for National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), while local banks are starting to return to secondary markets for the first time in a year — signs that the Middle Eastern loan market could see a different set of banks driving it in 2017. Elly Whittaker reports.