Citi

Saudi Arabia mandated banks on Tuesday to arrange a bond in euros, just a month after it last entered the market to raise dollars. The "opportunistic" bond will enable the kingdom to achieve tight pricing and diversification, market participants said.

EnBW, the German electrical utility, and the financing arm of a Dutch truck company, DAF Paccar Financial, hit screens with highly rated euro trades on Monday. Central bank bond buying higher than forecast, pushed investors to oversubscribe the deals even though the spreads on offer were thin.

EP Infrastructure, the Czech Republic-headquartered energy infrastructure group has mandated banks to syndicate a bond in euros. Though much of supply from the CEE region last year came from sovereigns, market participants believe now is a good time for corporates to issue in debt markets.

The SSA sterling market had been deserted for two weeks thanks to a hostile cross-currency basis swap, but KfW returned on Thursday with a £500m tap.

There were flashbacks to last month’s Spanish syndication in the bond market this week as Italy made an emphatic start to the Draghi era in the BTP market. The borrower shed billions of orders on Tuesday after aggressively pricing its first syndication since the appointment of the ex-ECB chief as the country’s prime minister. Burhan Khadbai reports.

This week was the busiest of the year so far for bank senior supply in euros, as issuers took advantage of strong market conditions after posting full year results.

Rabobank found good demand for a 12 year senior bond in the euro market this week, as it took advantage of rise in rates to land at a record tight spread.

Landsbankinn sold its first green bond on Thursday, a €300m senior deal, becoming the first Icelandic financial issuer to print debt in the format.

National Bank of Kuwait, the country's largest lender, was set to raise an additional tier one (AT1) bond on Thursday as FIG issuers across the Gulf take advantage of good credit conditions. More subordinated funding from the region's banks is expected in the coming weeks.

South Korean e-commerce firm Coupang is set for a multi-billion-dollar New York IPO — the first US listing from the country for a decade. The deal structure could appeal to other Korean start-ups, bankers said this week. Jonathan Breen reports.

Italy hit the market with a dual tranche on Tuesday, raising €4bn with a 30 year linker and €10bn with a new 10 year BTP. A sharp move in pricing on the 10 year leg meant it lost €45bn of orders, but SSA bankers on and off the deal said the trade was still a good result.

Conor Davis is replacing Jim O'Donnell as head of investor sales and relationship management for Citi's markets business.