Europe

Sibanthracite to switch loan from dollars to euros — IGT cuts size, stretches tenor of bank debt — Keywords hits power up on revolver — Resolute turns to lenders to refi M&A debt — Future taps revolver for Smartbrief buy — Fraport enters the Schuldschein market for more

The head of equity capital markets for the German speaking region at Bank of America Merrill Lynch has left the bank and retired after more than two decades in the investment banking industry.

Aston Martin’s £79m loss in the first half of 2019 drove its shares down to £4.98 by Wednesday’s close — a huge 73.8% fall from its £19 IPO price last October, making it one of the worst performing UK IPOs of the past decade.

Andrew McNaught will lead BNP Paribas’ UK advisory team from the end of the month, as the French bank plans to develop its corporate operations in the country “further, faster”.

The focus was on costs in the second quarter results of BNP Paribas and Société Générale’s investment banks, announced this week. BNP Paribas managed to keep a lid on expenses and could boast of "positive jaws", but SG took on a big charge from its restructuring.

A wide divergence of opinion has emerged among covered bond analysts over the future of covered bond spreads. Some believe a 20bp tightening is due while others suspect they will widen.

Barclays said on Thursday that it will redeem three of its additional tier one (AT1) bonds in September, though a weaker pound means that paying the debt back will eat into its common equity tier one ratio.

Bank of America proved on Thursday that there is still plenty of room for euro issuance, even as the market scrambled to work out the impact of the US Federal Reserve's first rate cut in a decade. The US issuer sold a €1bn senior unsecured bond after attracting orders two and half times that size.

Equity Capital Markets bankers are considering the possibility of bringing selected block trades to market in this week and next, in order to avoid what could be a volatile market in September.

The US Federal Reserve delivered a 25bp rate cut as expected on Wednesday, but the signalling failed to satisfy investors desperate for more accommodative policy, causing a mild sell-off in emerging markets.

A rates and structured sales banker at NordLB has resigned and will taking a job in the treasury department of Ålandsbanken, a bank headquartered in the Åland Islands, an autonomous region in Finland.

Italy’s Cassa Depositi e Prestiti printed a long-awaited Rmb1bn ($145m) inaugural Panda bond on Wednesday, with the modest issuance size revealing the roadblocks still facing the nascent debt market, writes Rebecca Feng.