Commerzbank

Thursday may be bonfire night in the UK but all the fireworks in the loan market were taking place in the Middle East this week, as Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ) launched a $800m loan alongside three other banks and with a loan for Oman also in the pipeline.

Edag, a German company that specialises in providing engineering services to the car industry, started investor education on Wednesday for a Frankfurt IPO.

Avicem HK, a subsidiary of Shenzhen-listed Avic Electromechanical Systems Co, has wound up a €350m ($384.6m) loan with a group of four banks.

A poor third quarter for Commerzbank’s investment banking division and the announced retirement of its chief executive has done little to spoil the bank’s overall sense of momentum, as it posted better profits than had been widely expected and revealed it would pay its first dividend in eight years.

Three issuers launched covered bond benchmarks in euros this week, down from nine in the previous week, as borrowers anticipated an improvement in market conditions and lower new issue concessions.

The belly of the curve was the place to be this week for public sector borrowers in euros — but any other benchmarks before the end of the year are likely to be further out the maturity curve.

Nigerian loans have given an underwhelming performance this year, but deals from Ecobank, FCMB, Skye Bank and Stanbic IBTC will test the mettle of the market.

L-Bank

L-Bank jumped on strong momentum in euros this week to print its first benchmark of the year in the currency. The five year note found no shortage of demand and drew the biggest order book the issuer has had since 2006.

Polska Grupa Energetyczna, the Polish state-owned power company, has signed Z2bn (€467m) of loans with the European Investment Bank, following a Z5.5bn(€1.3bn) syndicated loan.

The internationalisation of the Schuldschein market, Germany's answer to private placements, has been widely hailed, with foreign issuers and investors increasingly prominent. But even the banks that arrange the deals now include some surprising non-German names, writes Elly Whittaker.

Covered bonds issued this week from banks in Italy and Portugal were a roaring success from the sellers’ point of view. But none could have been done without the European Central Bank’s help.