Europe

As the term of the EU Parliament and EU Commission draw close to an end, the institutions are busy congratulating themselves about the success of the capital markets union action plan that was launched in early 2015. Work in the field of banking and financial regulations over the last years nevertheless includes one big failure: failure to agree on the euro-area deposit guarantee scheme.

Gilts are profiting from safe-haven flows, said Robert Stheeman, chief executive of the UK Debt Management Office (DMO), which, this week, sold its first syndicated note of the 2019/20 funding year — a 6.5 times subscribed issue.

Private debt loans in brief Mercon brews sustainability loan Transocean digs into more revolver liquidity Munich’s public service arm switches to sustainable loan

Large asset managers have urged the UK to start issuing green Gilts to support the country’s environmental initiatives and broaden the range of assets they can buy. Although the government's Green Task Force recommended the idea last year, there has been little progress since and the country’s Debt Management Office has shown little enthusiasm for the product, writes Burhan Khadbai.

Russian Railways launched the first international green bond from its home country on Thursday, a €500m eight year bond. While many emerging market investors were keen to look at the paper, despite the US considering a new round of Russian sanctions, several green investors disliked the company’s ESG enough to not participate.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has moved its new Climate Awareness Bond (CAB) documentation beyond the eurozone with the sale of a Polish zloty bond to a single Japanese investor.

KfW and the World Bank brought well received socially responsible bonds to the market this week that set new landmarks for the public sector borrowers.

Thomas Cook bonds traded down more than 12 points on Thursday in heavy volume, as the UK holidays group announced a new first-ranking loan for the winter season, a big goodwill writedown that took its pre-tax loss to £1.4bn, and a big drawdown on its revolving credit facility.

Europe's equity capital markets are heading for a crunch. Companies are set to launch a batch of IPOs so they price before investors disappear for the summer. But escalating trade tensions between China and the US threaten to rob them of their chance, writes Sam Kerr.

US retail giant Walmart said this week that it was exploring the possibility of an IPO of Asda, the UK supermarket, after its proposed £7.3bn takeover by rival Sainsbury’s was blocked by UK competition authorities. If the IPO does go ahead, there is likely to be little market appetite for the first major UK supermarket flotation for more than two decades.

Société de Financement Local (SFIL) has picked banks to sell its first benchmark in euros this year.

Complaining about MiFID is par for the course at industry gatherings. But Henrik Normann, president and CEO of the Nordic Investment Bank, told attendees at the 2019 conference of the International Capital Markets Association that the regulatory regime was only there “because the industry has failed”.