Europe

Lloyds Bank dipped into dollars for senior funding on Wednesday, a day after UBS launched a deal in the same currency. A syndicate official noted that European financial institutions are being tempted across the Atlantic amid more inhospitable conditions in the euro market this summer.

German carmaker Daimler wrapped up a Rmb5bn ($710m) two tranche private placement Panda bond on Wednesday. Returning to the market after eight months, the Panda bond regular drove through turbulence.

Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC) has thrown open a €2.2bn-equivalent loan to support its acquisition of a minority stake in German automaker Daimler.

UK mining company Sirius Minerals has put its hopes of survival on getting a high yield bond away in September after it postponed a deal earlier this week. But investors are skeptical about the firm's chances. Sirius will run out of money by the end of September and its $3.8bn financing package will turn void on October 30.

Next, the Baa2/BBB (negative) UK retailer broke a dry spell for corporate investment grade issuance on Wednesday when it sold £50m of bonds retained from a new issue done in April.

Michael Reuther, head of Commerzbank’s corporate clients division, expects more firms to enter the bank’s "intensive care department" as economic pressures weigh on European corporates. And in his unit the cost of risk more than tripled in the second quarter, helping to shrink operating profits.

Yields have fallen so steeply and spreads have tightened so much in the covered bond market that the distribution of risk has become even more ‘asymmetric’ said a major asset manager, who feared bank treasury accounts would become less inclined to buy now that 10 year covered bond yields are negative.

Finland’s Municipality Finance is hoping to receive increased demand for its bonds from insurance companies, following a recent amendment to the Solvency II regulation.

The US Treasury's fresh round of sanctions on Russian sovereign debt has thrown yet another obstacle in the way of international lenders, who are bracing themselves for indirect impact on the already faltering syndicated loans market.

Emerging market loan bankers have been trying to understand the impact on syndicated lending of the US’s latest sanctions on Russia. The proscriptions have instilled more uncertainty into a collapsing market.

Some bank capital investors are positioning themselves to take advantage of volatility in the remainder of 2019, revealing their concerns that the market is overly excited about the prospect of a new quantitative easing (QE) programme in Europe.

UBS Group skirted volatility in global financial markets to issue an 11 year non-call 10 year senior unsecured bond in dollars on Tuesday. The Swiss lender offered a small premium to investors, with a final spread of 140bp over US Treasuries.