Europe

SSA issuers are increasingly looking towards the Norwegian krone market as a hawkish Norges Bank, against the tide, raises rates. The European Investment Bank in particular has sharply increased its Nokkie issuance this year.

Issuance in Swedish kronor picked up this week, with three corporate issuers placing Skr6.28bn ($667.9m) across four private placements, as issuers looked to get in ahead of the midsummer break. In euros, a Dutch and French agency both placed paper, while protests in Hong Kong caused yields to spike in offshore Chinese renminbi and Hong Kong dollars.

English football club Stevenage FC is inviting investors to buy shares in a rare kind of equity fundraising in a bid to secure promotion from League Two of the English Football League.

Shares in Petropavlovsk, the London-listed Russian gold miner, rose 7.4% on Thursday after the company issued a new $125m convertible bond to refinance and older note due in 2020.

Trainline, the UK transport booking website, has priced its London listing near the top its revised range and grown the IPO to satisfy investor demand.

Europe’s new batch of IPOs are being launched and priced with cornerstone investors playing crucial roles, a new dynamic for the region's primary equity markets and one that many hope will continue, writes Sam Kerr.

Europe’s banking sector and its regulators are waiting to see how Facebook’s plans for a new cryptocurrency will develop. It could have major implications for financial regulation.

It may be a quieter summer for bankers on Zurich syndicate desks than many had hoped or expected as the effects of renewed monetary easing in the eurozone knocks back Swiss franc swaps, strengthens the currency and lessens the demand for bonds, said bankers this week.

AXA Banque has mandated lead managers for a roadshow starting on Thursday as it looks to sell its first covered bond in euros.

The Russian Federation is to increase its its 2029 and 2035 dollar bonds as the risk of further US sanctions against the country recedes and the prospect of lower of US interest rates has increased demand for the debt.

The Republic of Serbia’s first international bond for six years took advantage of a wave of bond buying, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s comments earlier this week signalled a growing chance of eurozone rate cuts.

DCM bankers say that market conditions are just right for some of Europe’s smaller and more marginalised financial institutions to bring new bond deals ahead of the summer.