Europe

The Asian Development Bank hopped on to screens on Tuesday to print a new 10.5 year green Kangaroo bond. Demand for longer dated Kangaroo bonds has been muted recently, leading to smaller transaction sizes. So introducing a green label helped the ADB feel “comfortable” with achieving its minimum issuance size, said Anthony Ruschpler, treasury specialist at the ADB in Manila.

Italy’s stockmarket has rallied since the formation of the new government to the extent that the FTSE MIB index is now into bull market territory this year, outperforming all its peers in Western Europe.

Bank of Montreal was marketing a senior preferred bond in sterling on Tuesday, one day after Rothesay Life gave FIG investors a chance to put their money in tier two in the same currency. The Canadian issuer started its trade with a 15bp-20bp concession, according to a banker off the deal.

There will not be a huge repricing of eurozone government bonds in the event that the European Central Bank does not announce a new round of quantitative easing, according to a senior asset strategist.

Armenia is the latest EM borrower to take advantage of rock bottom rates with a tender offer and new bond. The sovereign will tender a 2020 bond, financing the operation with a new Eurobond.

Investment grade corporate bond issuance has slowed right down on Wednesday, as issuers and investors are getting cautious before the European Central Bank monetary policy meeting on Thursday.

Achmea put out a statement on Wednesday in which it reminded investors to rely on Bloomberg for information about upcoming issuances, amid speculation that it was considering raising restricted tier one or tier two notes.

Italian bank bonds have performed very strongly as the country has prepared to welcome in a new government, but investors are still waiting for the sector to produce any new debt supply.

In the last five years Moody's has raised the average credit rating of the top European banks, but it has simultaneously dropped the average rating on their debt securities. This 'paradox' is down to new EU regulations on bail-inable bonds, the agency said.

As climate change takes hold, banks could incur losses in a very different way from what is typically captured by using credit risk modelling, delegates heard at the European Covered Bond Council’s 30th plenary meeting, held in Munich on Wednesday.

Moody’s slashed Ford’s rating from Baa3 to Ba1 on Monday, placing the company in precarious crossover territory, as the other agencies have the firm on negative outlook. Other falling angels may land in the junkyard soon.

Swedish credit management company Intrum this week completed a €850m issue of new senior notes, pricing at 3% and increasing the size of the offering from the initial €750m. UK-based gambling giant International Game Technology also dipped into the “most issuer-friendly market ever” with €500m bond.