Credit Suisse

DCM officials were encouraged to see investors piling into new non-preferred senior bank bonds on Tuesday, as BBVA, Crédit Agricole and Credit Suisse combined to reopen the market. Borrowers have been willing to offer extra spread to investors at the initial price thoughts stage.

A number of Chinese real estate companies kicked off their refinancing for 2020 on Monday, with higher rated issuers tapping longer-dated bonds and the weaker names actively engaging in liability management.

Asian bond issuers went full speed ahead with their fundraising plans on Monday, launching new deals ahead of Chinese New Year holidays at the end of the month.

Shares in Schmolz + Bickenbach, the Swiss steel maker, surged 9% on Friday after the company said it is due to price its Sfr325m rights offer at Sfr0.30, the top of the range, securing its future after a long period of underperformance.

Southpaw takes a sideways look at some of the big events that defined investment banking in 2019.

Credit Suisse expects to make a pre-tax loss in its investment banking and capital markets (IBCM) division this year, it said at an investor day on Wednesday. But it pointed to a strong pipeline for 2020.

Investors gobbled up a high yield bond offering by US plastic packaging company Berry on Thursday, encouraging the company to increase the size twice, eventually reaching over €1bn. Berry is the only speculative grade company to issue a major bond this week in Europe, as most issuers stayed away from a market anxious about the UK general election.

Struggling Swiss steelmaker Schmolz + Bickenbach has launched an emergency rights issue after the Swiss market regulator FINMA approved it on Monday.

Venus Medtech (Hangzhou), a Chinese biotechnology company, has wrapped up its Hong Kong IPO at the top end of guidance, raking in HK$2.6bn ($311.1m).

Another packaging company is hunting for better financing terms in the issuer-friendly European high yield bond market. Berry Global follows companies such as Crown, Ball, Smurfit Kappa, Owen-Illinois and Ardagh with an ambitious refinancing that could be priced as early as Thursday — the day of the UK general election.

JS Global Lifestyle Co, a Hong Kong-based small appliance manufacturer, has started taking orders for its second attempt at a listing, launching bookbuilding on Monday at a fixed price.

Malaysian energy services group Serba Dinamik International faced an uphill battle on Thursday when it courted investors for a new bond.