BNP Paribas

Four covered bonds issuers raised almost €6bn between them at the long end of the curve this week, suggesting borrowers are prioritising tougher, longer duration deals. And while conditions permit some are issuing in the largest size possible.

A pair of public sector borrowers switched up their approaches in dollars on Thursday, with the European Investment Bank taking the rare move of revising pricing and Caisse d’Amortissement de la Dette Sociale bringing a trade earlier than normal.

French medicine manufacturer Unither Pharmaceuticals is set to kick off the primary market in European leveraged finance for 2017, setting a bank meeting for Tuesday in Paris for €260m of loans.

Société Générale became the third French bank to dip into dollars for senior non-preferred debt this week, with investors appearing hungry for the new product.

BNP Paribas opened the block market in Asia with a W382.1bn ($316.7m) sell-down in South Korea’s Shinhan Financial Group Co this 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.

BMW formed part of the auto sector’s traditional charge from pole position into the first corners of the corporate bond market on Wednesday, beginning the new year with a dual tranche trade that paid single digit concessions.

ABN Amro issued its third 15 year covered bond in three years on Wednesday and, in a surprise late addition, tacked on a sub-benchmark 20 year.

High volumes of issuance have boosted confidence in FIG primary market conditions at the start of 2017, with bankers expecting flows to remain high until banks start going into blackout later this month.

Renault Credit International Banque, the finance subsidiary of Renault, became the first corporate bond issuer of 2017 on Tuesday, slipping through the year’s earliest possible window to issue in euros.

Syndication of Elysium Healthcare’s reduced £133m loan has run over into 2017 at investors’ requests, according to a banker on the deal, as the European leveraged loan market returns with expectations of a healthy New Year pipeline.

BNP Paribas was marketing senior non-preferred bonds in both euros and dollars on Tuesday, as French banks looked to prioritise issuing the new bonds in early 2017.