Commerzbank

The holiday season kicked off at the Loan Syndicate Managers’ Forum’s carol concert in London last week and, as usual, Canon David Parrott delighted the crowd with another lively sermon — though one banker risked life and limb by questioning the quality of the drinks served at the Commerzbank reception...

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.

Fitch has hired the former head of loan capital markets within Commerzbank’s leveraged finance team, who joins the agency’s corporate rating operation.

Groupe SEB has set a new record for a French borrower tapping the booming Schuldschein market, raising a whopping €800m to help it buy a German company.

A busy weekend for Chinese authorities as seven new currencies were named to be traded directly with the renminbi, the dollar fix breaks 6.9 again on Monday, and a clearing bank is appointed in Dubai.

Bank Negara Indonesia is wrapping up a $750m borrowing with nine mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners, returning to the loan market after a two year break. As liquidity is still abundant, the borrower is raising its biggest syndicated deal, with bankers saying that government backed names from the country will remain popular. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

Banca Monte dei Paschi’s shares leapt 7% on Wednesday morning, on growing hopes that a way will be found for the Italian state to strengthen its balance sheet, enabling it to achieve a €5bn capital raising demanded by the European Central Bank and avoid a bail-in.

Nine banks have banded together to arrange a $750m dual tranche facility for Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI).

The six years following the global credit crisis have seen a blizzard of financial regulation hit Europe and wider global markets. As the regulatory landscape starts to settle, we consider the regulatory facts of life that can help companies of all sizes negotiate this new terrain successfully.

Five lenders have joined HSBC at the top level of Saudi British Bank’s (SABB’s) $450m syndicated loan, the bank’s first dollar deal from international lenders.

German brake systems manufacturer Knorr Bremse has returned to the euro bond market nearly 14 years after it last sold a new issue to investors.

Macro and political headwinds make investors nervous. Uncertain market conditions have created a tough environment for anyone seeking to conduct an equity flotation or rights issue in Europe. Some recent high profile cancellations of equity transactions can also be attributed to poor planning or unrealistic expectations. So here are my thoughts on how a CFO can help keep an equity transaction on track — and more generally, keep a company’s shareholders on board.