Europe

The Covered Bond Awards 2019 poll closes today and with only a few votes splitting the top contenders for several award categories, its not too late to make a difference.

LiquidityEdge, which operates an electronic marketplace for US Treasuries, could now look at offering a similar service in the European government bond market after its purchase by MarketAxess. The latter’s president, Chris Concannon, sees the pressure European banks face to cut costs as a boon for trading automation in the region.

Yields continued to tumble in the Swiss franc bond market this week with Pfandbriefbank issuing the first 30 year covered bond to be sold with a negative yield, following Münchener Hypothekenbank (MünHyp) striking a new record low for covered bond yields with a nine year trade.

Tottenham to win its spurs in US PP market - Gewobag closes Schuldschein with ‘well over €1bn’ bids - Fresenius enters Schuldschein market on hunt for euros - BUUK Infrastructure sells US private placement - Ovo Group the latest to court SSE energy retail arm - Competition for UK housing association lending rises

UK corporate debt is at an all-time high as the risks posed by a traumatic departure from the EU in October peak. Default risk among UK industrials has deteriorated sharply in recent years while at the same time their EU counterparts have lowered their risk profile. Karoliina Liimatainen reports.

An impressive rally in Italian risk assets has been completely overturned this week, as Italy descended into political chaos. Some market participants now fear a repeat of last year, when Italian issuers were frozen out of debt and equity markets as the country’s government fought with the European Commission over its annual budget targets. Tyler Davies and Sam Kerr report.

Market participants are confident that FIG issuance will pick up next week but there are concerns around secondary performance. They are likely to pay close attention to how this week’s deals from Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse fare before marketing their own.

Secondary market spread may have widened in the corporate bond market, with an inversion in the US Treasury curve stoking recession fears. However investment grade bond bankers are confident investor appetite in the primary market is not facing existential threat.

HSBC’s chief executive was dislodged by the force of the challenges facing the bank. Now, its global markets division is under pressure as senior management continues with reform, writes David Rothnie.

The EMEA IPO calendar for the rest of the year is set to be filled with companies from continental Europe, as Brexit uncertainty looks set to delay UK listings. But global volatility could yet scupper all plans.

London football club Tottenham Hotspur FC has entered the US private placement market, looking for £350m to partly pay off bank loans generated from the construction of its new stadium.

Not even one in 50 firms are prepared for the date later this year when the UK’s Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) will apply to them, according to ACA Compliance Group. This means they have not yet faced up to rules reshaping hiring and governance practices.