Deutsche Bank

Italy’s Servizi Assicurativi del Commercio Estero (SACE) made a last minute appearance in last week’s primary FIG market, pricing a €500m perpetual non-call 10 year subordinated bond at 25bp lower yield than where initial price thoughts were set despite uncertain secondary markets and an ostensible lack of comparables.

Turkey's Halkbank priced its new $500m six year bond with a 2bp-3pb new issue premium on Wednesday but the underlying swap rate had rallied 10bp throughout the day meaning that the nominal premium was perhaps more attractive than it otherwise would have been.

First Gulf Bank, the third largest bank by assets in the UAE, is meeting investors in Europe next week regarding a possible Eurobond.

Banco Popular Espanol snuck into the additional tier one market to price the first high trigger AT1 from a periphery bank, and filling its allotted bucket for AT1 capital.

Coal India completed one of the country's largest ECM deals on January 30 with a Rp226.13bn ($3.68bn) divestment of part of the government’s stake. Bankers lauded the trade, which had been two years in the making, and believe it will keep the momentum going for several more share sales that are due to hit the market before India ends its fiscal year in March.

Chinese tech firm Tencent Holdings made its eagerly anticipated return to the dollar bond market on February 4 with a $2bn dual tranche offering that drew a frantic response from investors. That resulted in an 8.5 times covered book, which the issuer was able to leverage to price inside its rival Alibaba.

China Construction Bank (Asia) printed a landmark transaction on February 4 as it became the first Chinese bank to sell a senior bond in euros.

BNP Paribas has appointed Simon Gagey as head of loan syndicate and sales for southeast Asia, according to a source at the bank.

Three block trades are in the market, as secondary placement activity remains busy. The most exotic of the trades is for Sergey Galitsky, founder of the Russian retailer Magnit, who is selling up to 1m shares in the business – apparently to finance improvements to the stadium at his football team, FC Krasnodar.

National Grid North America on Wednesday continued a run of euro issuance by US companies by issuing a €750m seven year bond.

The rally in government bonds since the European Central Bank announced its sovereign quantitative easing programme at the end of January has restored relative value in core European covered bonds. Though yields remain low, BPCE and Belfius Bank this week issued benchmark deals that enjoyed exceptionally good demand that was boosted by the return of real money rates investors to covered bonds.

Sweden broke the trend among European sovereigns for longer dated euro issuance this year, by mandating banks for a trade in the belly of the curve on Wednesday. The deal should provide a test case for euro deals at the shorter end since euro curves flattened after the European Central Bank announced it would buy sovereign debt up to 30 years, said SSA bankers.