Commerzbank

Europe's corporate bond market opened emphatically for business on Tuesday, as seven issuers banished all memories of the summer holiday. Despite there being plenty of choice for investors, demand was high across the board. Multiple deals were two to three times oversubscribed, while the largest, a €3.5bn four trancher from Siemens, the machinery maker, was nearly 4.5 times covered.

With no major new issues in sight, the high yield bond market has been dominated by the news of troubled businesses struggling to come up with credible turnaround plans.

ZF Friedrichshafen is targeting the end of August to launch its grand return to the Schuldschein market, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The German car parts maker’s €2.2bn issue in November 2014 is the biggest deal the market has ever seen but a bigger deal may be on the way.

Germany’s Dürr has signed a €750m sustainability-linked loan using blockchain technology, as the mechanical and plant engineering firm continues its push into sustainability refinancing that started with a green Schuldschein.

Michael Reuther, head of Commerzbank’s corporate clients division, expects more firms to enter the bank’s "intensive care department" as economic pressures weigh on European corporates. And in his unit the cost of risk more than tripled in the second quarter, helping to shrink operating profits.

Commerzbank has appointed its first head of syndicated and leveraged finance, a unit created within its new capital markets division.

Daz Zhang is leaving Commerzbank to lead the Greater China debt capital markets team at another bank, according to a source close to the matter.

Hungarian gas and oil company MOL has extended part of an existing €555m revolving credit facility by one year, in what is one of the few sparks of activity in the country's syndicated loan market so far this year.

Russia's largest producer of anthracite coal, Siberian Anthracite, is expected to complete a loan refinancing in September. The deal will see Sibanthracite switch its existing loan facility from dollars to euros, as bankers offer a number of reasons for the switch, including preventative protection from sanctions and the elimination of operational delays.

The World Bank placed its first Hong Kong dollar deal of its 2019/2020 funding year last week. The supranational chose to link the private placement to the Hibor benchmark, a now little seen structure that was likely the result of a "very specific enquiry", according to one MTN banker away from the deal.

Deutsche Kreditmarkt-Standards (DKS), a German industry body, held a conference call with Schuldschein participants on Thursday afternoon to discuss restructuring in the Schuldschein market, and whether there is a case for a standardised collective action clause.

A cavalcade of “familiar names” have come to the market over the last week. SSAs, corporates and FIG issuers printed across the euro curve, while a trio of supranationals were also active in emerging market currencies.