Commerzbank

Market participants believe the FIG primary market has seen its last deal of the year, with banks now positioning themselves for the busy January supply window and next week’s expected US rate hike.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce took advantage of a back-up in three year euro swap yields following the European Central Bank meeting last week to issue a covered bond of the same tenor.

Activity in the covered bond market had been expected to slow down but instead it has been surprisingly busy this week, with as many as three euro benchmarks surfacing over the first three days.

Corporate treasurers across Europe will be thanking Daimler today, as the German car maker took the lead on Tuesday and showed that the bond market is wide open for deals.

Commerzbank and Svenska Handelsbanken both launched senior deals on Monday, as the FIG market’s positive sentiment continued unhindered by what for many was the disappointing outcome of last week’s European Central Bank meeting.

Agence France Locale printed its first bond denominated in dollars this week.

Zumtobel, the Austrian lighting manufacturer, made one change to its seven bank syndicate in a €500m loan refinancing.

Commerzbank Corporates & Markets outline the current attraction of the High Yield Bond Market

Small firms may be set to benefit from new rules proposed by the European Commission meant to lower the cost and bureaucracy associated with accessing the capital markets, but issuers of bonds to institutional investors are likely to be hit with greater expense.

Nigeria’s Ecobank signed its $170m loan refinancing on Monday, the deal pays 1% more than the previous loan and has attracted four new lenders, despite a meagre showing of Nigerian deals this year.

Solvay, the Belgian chemical company, enjoyed the benefit of the European corporate bond market's blistering return to form this week, when it raised €3.25bn of hybrid and senior debt for its acquisition of Cytec Industries.

SEB Germany offered the lowest ever yield for a primary covered bond when it issued a three year public sector Pfandbrief on Tuesday. But some sort of positive return was necessary, even if it was minuscule.