Barclays

Issuers lined up to print in euros on Tuesday as a vital European Central Bank meeting loomed later in the week — but bankers were divided as to how much the flurry of deals was down to concerns over the central bank meeting.

There was a double breakthrough in dollars for public sector borrowers on Tuesday, as Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten reopened the 10 year part of the curve for core issuers for the first time in seven months and Sweden priced the tightest three year benchmark since the first week of the year.

UK property group Hammerson came to the corporate bond market on Tuesday with a €500m offering, as deal flow hit a more subdued tone ahead of the European Central Bank’s Thursday meeting.

India’s Dewan Housing Finance Corp has hit the loan market for a $100m borrowing, three months after holding a non-deal roadshow in Taipei.

Core eurozone issuers are set to pepper the euro curve over the next two days, before all attention turns to a much anticipated European Central Bank meeting on Thursday.

Senvion, the German wind turbine maker, has set the price range for its Frankfurt initial public offering at a level that implies a heavy discount to its main listed peers.

Public sector borrowers from the eurozone periphery are preparing a flurry of issuance in the next few days, with one still smarting from a change to its rating outlook late last week.

UK metering services company, Smart Metering Systems (SMS) has signed a £150m club loan and increased the deal size to take advantage of a government scheme to boost smart meter installation.

Policymakers and regulators, be warned: US investment banks are poised to exceed the market share of their European counterparts in Europe, which could set back European initiatives to stabilise the region’s banking sector while increasing corporate and retail access to capital.

The arrest of former Brazilian president Lula da Silva gave new urgency to a strong rally in Brazilian bonds on Friday after the market appeared to take the detention as a sign that president Dilma Rousseff was closer to impeachment.

Barclays offered to buy back up to €8bn of operating company debt on Tuesday, having reiterated in its annual results a commitment to restructuring its investment bank around a holding company funding model.

Barclays' new chief executive is looking for a lot of leeway from shareholders. Selling off a profitable part of the business to double down on a less profitable line is a bold call. The market can't be this bad forever, but don't expect the dividend back any time soon.