Credit Suisse

Though Egypt is reeling from the central bank’s action to float its currency last month two Egyptian borrowers are in the market for hard currency loans this week, but unsecured corporate loans will be slower to come, said bankers.

The busy equity block trade action in Europe since the US election has continued into its third week, though market participants are beginning to brace for the outcome of the Italian referendum on Sunday.

Credit Suisse’s catastrophe bond protecting the bank from its own operational risk losses cut more than Sfr1bn from risk-weighted assets in the bank’s Global Markets unit, following an improvement in regulatory treatment. But the Basel Committee looks set to close off this route to cutting capital costs.

Swedbank became the third non-UK issuer to launch a sterling covered bond since September with a rare five year offer on Wednesday.

Teddy Sagi, the entrepreneur, used a block trade on Tuesday night to offload shares in Playtech, the FTSE 250 gaming software business he started in 1999, for £329m.

Swedbank became the third non-UK issuer to launch a sterling covered bond since September, when it launched a rare five year on Wednesday. The high number of UK bank sterling redemptions that are unlikely to be refinanced next year suggests sterling investors will be cash rich and receptive to similar supply.

State Power Investment Corp (SPIC) fired the starting pistol in Asia’s dollar bond market this week, selling a $1.2bn dual tranche offering on Tuesday. The state-owned enterprise played off its strong name and high rating, and ended up paying little by way of new issue premium, even though the market was volatile.

Companies are continuing to use windows for corporate bond issuance ahead of Sunday’s Italian referendum, as three borrowers hit the euro bond market on Tuesday.

IPOs in Hong Kong this year have been dominated by friends and family investors or throttled by cornerstone accounts. But the appearance of technology company Meitu could be the deal the market needs to attract foreign investors, so it can’t be allowed to slip into the ranks of mainland dominated deals.

Chinese selfie app maker Meitu has cracked open books for its potential HK$5.5bn ($710.4m) IPO, a deal notable for coming from the technology sector — a rarity in Hong Kong’s primary market.

State Power Investment Corp (SPIC) kicked off this week's Asia bond market, opening books to a dual-tranche offering on Tuesday morning Asia time.

After almost two years away from the market, Thomas Cook opened a three day roadshow on Tuesday for a new euro deal, which will redeem its only sterling bond and portions of its 2020 euro notes.