Danske Bank

Danske Bank is hoping to place its first issue of green bonds this month, though the market is still awaiting the findings of a series of investigations into money laundering at its branch in Estonia.

Danske Bank has turned to the Norwegian krone market to raise non-preferred senior debt, following closely behind a recent transaction in euros.

Danske Bank paid a higher than average new issue premium for non-preferred senior this week, as the money laundering scandal surrounding the institution deepened with new investigations and supervisory actions.

Danske Bank has picked Bo Søndergaard to be its first head of SRI bond marketing in the DCM syndicate team.

The Estonian Financial Services Authority this week ordered Danske Bank to leave the country. The Danish lender replied that it would exit the Baltics and Russia as a whole. Meanwhile, the Estonian regulator and its Danish counterpart are under investigation for a possible breach of European Union law in relation to Danske’s money laundering scandal.

Two Nordic telecoms companies sold euro corporate bonds this week after both spending nearly two years on the sidelines. Both employed no-grow strategies, and Swedish company Telia sold the longest maturity corporate bond deal of 2019 so far.

On Thursday, the European corporate bond market saw its second Nordic telecoms new issue of the week. Finnish company Elisa used the same no-grow strategy as its Swedish peer Telia used on Tuesday, but for a smaller deal.

Finland’s Ramirent has signed a €185m syndicated loan, early refinancing and increasing the amount of an existing loan as the construction equipment rental company looks to grow after a year of asset sales.

Sanoma, the Finnish learning and media company, has signed €550m of bank funding, some of it earmarked to fund its acquisition of Iddink, the Dutch educational platform and service provider.

Sweden’s Loomis has signed a €150m five year deal, as the cash handling firm looked to switch the headline currency on its syndicated revolving bank facility.

Shares in Norwegian Air Shuttle, the Norwegian budget airline, fell 25% on Tuesday after the company announced an Nkr3bn (€308m) rights offer to avoid breaking its financial covenants following widening losses and an abandoned takeover attempt by IAG.

Sydbank found a clear window for issuance in the euro market on Monday, when it racked up a solid set on orders on its return to the non-preferred senior bond format.