Commerzbank

Sharjah opened books on Tuesday for the first international bond from the Middle East this year. Pricing for the five year note started back of the borrower’s outstanding 2024s.

The European Investment Bank and the Federal State of Berlin announced on Monday their intention to print in euros in a week in which the European Central Bank is expected to make a decision regarding interest rates.

Year to date FIG issuance volumes are barely half what they were in 2015, as a seemingly endless run of poor headlines has weighed on performance and left investors wary.

South Korea’s Kookmin Bank has selected four banks to run a potential return to the covered bond market, but a source at the issuer said that due to unfavourable market conditions, there’s a possibility that the deal will not materialise.

Five issuers from core Europe priced covered bonds this week but the standout success, which could have been priced without the European Central Bank’s help, was the first Austrian deal of the year from Erste Bank.

Roland Boehm, one of the European syndicated loan market's best known and most influential senior figures, is leaving the market, for a new and more senior role at Commerzbank, where he has been global head of DCM loans.

FIG issuance ground to a halt on Thursday as borrowers paused to reflect on weak secondary trading and a global sell-off in equities, leaving Dexia Crédit Local alone in the market.

LGC, the UK life sciences company, has set price talk on its £500m debt package backing its acquisition by KKR from Bridgepoint after holding bank meetings January 13.

Swedish telecommunications company Tele2 has retained all of the original lenders as it refinances a €800m revolving credit facility.

South Korea’s Woori Bank sealed a 144A return to the international bond market on January 12. The issuer’s aggressive pricing strategy kept US investors at bay, but it was unavoidable as the borrower wanted cheap funding, said bankers on the deal.

Commerzbank Corporates & Markets examines the benefits of leasing in corporate finance

Ping An Life Insurance Company of China started building books for its inaugural dollar bond on Tuesday, while South Korea’s Woori Bank and China Energy Reserve and Chemicals Group are also wooing investors for their respective dollar deals.