BNP Paribas

After a run of triple-B rated corporate bond issuance, A-rated names have returned to the market and paid lower premiums than the higher beta issuers had, but 10.75 years remains the longest tenor to date.

BNP Paribas has filled the gap it had in Middle East DCM with an internal move of a banker working in sustainable capital markets.

Saudi Arabia is expected to print large tranches for its new 2029 and 2050 bond issue but will need to pay up for them in its first deal since the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the country's consulate in Istanbul last year.

Israel hit the market on Wednesday with a dual tranche euro deal, looking to test demand at the long end of the yield curve. The country’s reputation as a quality issuer appears to have carried it through.

Crédit Agricole paid a small premium to investors to launch a new short-dated floating rate note on Wednesday, adding to a flurry of senior trades from French banks at the start of the year.

The European Investment Bank and Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten showed the strength of the dollar market on Tuesday as they sparked the sector into life for 2019 with benchmarks offering minimal concession. Another pair of SSAs are hoping to emulate that success on Wednesday.

Belgium and KfW received well oversubscribed order books for 10 year euro benchmarks on Tuesday, with several public sector borrowers set to follow in the euro market this week.

Cellnex Telecom, the Spanish wireless telecommunications company, has reopened the equity-linked market in Europe with a €200m tap of the €600m convertible bond it issued exactly one year ago.

Slovenia hit screens with the first sovereign bond of 2019 on Monday, undergoing some price discovery but closing a successful deal and paving the way for other countries to follow suit.

French telecoms operator Orange ensured the cobwebs were blown off the corporate bond market on Tuesday when it launched the first multi-tranche offering of 2019, which included the longest tenor of the year to date and the year’s first sterling corporate bonds in its four tranches.

The dollar market for public sector borrowers begins in earnest on Wednesday with a pair of borrowers out with benchmarks and bankers confident the deals will go well thanks to a demand/supply imbalance. The trades follow a small floater tap from a supranational on Monday that was the first syndicated deal of the year in the currency.

The European Financial Stability Facility rebooted the euro public sector market on Monday with an intraday execution ahead of what SSA bankers expect to be a busy week for supply. Belgium and KfW are already on screens for benchmark trades in the 10 year part of the curve.