Europe

In this round-up, US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin called the talk with Chinese central bank governor Yi Gang ‘candid’ on Twitter, the Mainland warned domestic tourists and students against planning trips to the US, and both the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered predictions for Chinese GDP growth thanks to trade tensions.

Ukrainian wood processor Kronospan has secured a €116m loan from the EBRD and commercial lenders. The deal adds light to a desolate market, though a loan for Ukrainian borrower MHP may be at risk due to competition concerns.

HgCapital Trust, the UK investment firm focused on unquoted investments, has unveiled plans to raise £80m of fresh capital to finance its pipeline of investments.

While four new issuers were squeezing into the euro corporate bond market on Wednesday, Norwegian Property, an unrated real estate investment company, slipped a Nkr950m (€97m) three tranche deal into the market.

A trio of agencies and an infrequent issuer have printed long dated paper in MTN euros this week, and there has also been long end corporate interest in Swedish kronor.

UBS has hired Régis Turrini as head of France for corporate client solutions.

Iva Horcicova has resigned from ING and will join another financial institution.

A managing director from Barclays' leveraged finance syndicate desk is leaving the bank.

The European Investment Bank has found a new head of funding within its ranks to take charge of the public markets team, succeeding Carlos Ferreira da Silva, who intends to enter semi-retirement later this year after 28 years at the bank.

Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) gave investors the chance to put some euros into a senior bond on Friday and was well subscribed for its efforts.

Invesco has cut its stake in AJ Bell, the Manchester-based investment platform, after the stellar performance of the stock since the company listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2018.

Marc Soubières has joined Mediobanca’s capital markets solutions team to focus on coverage of clients in France and French speaking countries.