EIB

The pipeline is starting to fill in the public sector bond market with the European Investment Bank and Kommunalbanken set to bring dollar deals and KfW preparing its first euro benchmark of the year. More deals — including the first sovereign syndication of the year— are set to follow this week.

The European Investment Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank amassed strong demand from investors to kick off their funding programmes for the year on Friday, with the former receiving the biggest ever order book in the sterling supranational and agency bond market, according to the leads.

The Federal State of Lower Saxony sold the first euro public sector benchmark of 2020 with a well received 10 year deal on Thursday. Meanwhile, the European Investment Bank is keeping to tradition of beginning its benchmark funding for the year in sterling.

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) has announced a larger than expected borrowing programme for 2020, following the decision to roll over its bill proceeds into its bond funding. The European Investment Bank (EIB) also has a higher target for next year.

The European Investment Bank has announced a bigger borrowing requirement for 2020, as its redemptions are set to rise in the year ahead.

Sterling is set to take a bigger slice of the socially responsible bond market as a result of a number of initiatives, including reforms that are putting the pressure on UK pension funds to focus on environmental, social or governance (ESG) factors in their investments. Burhan Khadbai reports

Specialisation could define MTNs in 2020 as the market looks to differentiate itself from public markets where borrowers are easily executing large, cheap, liquid benchmarks. MTN dealers’ change of focus is shaking up the league tables. Frank Jackman reports

We have more multilateral development banks than ever before. They perform an invaluable job in a challenging and ever-changing world, but as they expand, and as new MDBs emerge, a fear is growing that they are being used as political tools by sovereign shareholders, keen to promote their own interests around the world. By Elliot Wilson

When investors are presented with a new financial instrument, their instinct is generally to focus on pricing, relative value and liquidity. This is a natural response, especially in a low yield environment in which every basis point counts.

This week's funding scorecard looks at the progress supranationals have made in their funding programmes at the beginning of December, with some issuers also setting their funding targets for 2020.

European finance ministers are not keen on setting up a new development bank from scratch. They will instead start technical work on how to better streamline the operations outside the EU of the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Green finance specialists gave a cautious welcome this week to an idea put forward by Axa that the European Union should set up a new organ, modelled on the European Stability Mechanism, to borrow about €500bn for investments to fight climate change. Jon Hay and Burhan Khadbai report.