Europe

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has hit Goldman Sachs with a £34.3m fine for misreporting transactions.

Spain’s Iberdrola has signed a €1.5bn sustainability-linked loan, which enables the energy company to borrow at pre-global financial crisis margins if it hits the performance indicators.

Biffa has signed a £350m revolving credit facility, enabling the UK waste management firm to slash £2.5m ($3.26m) off its annual debt bill as a result.

The European Investment Bank is trying to keep its role for lending outside of the EU in the post-2020 EU framework.

Goldman Sachs this week completed a €612m delta placement of shares in Hochtief, the German construction company, to hedge itself after providing a funded collar transaction to Atlantia.

De Nederlandsche Bank has become the first central bank to sign the Principles for Responsible Investment, as the next stage in its development of a fuller approach to sustainability, including in its investments.

Sean Tai, founder of Debtdomain, spoke exclusively to GlobalCapital to discuss digital platforms in the Schuldschein market: their future, barriers to entry, the risk of fragmentation — and the possibility that Debtdomain's functionality could broaden.

Swedbank has removed its CEO and president, Birgitte Bonnesen, as revelations about potential money laundering at the Swedish bank exploded in recent days.

Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel (BFCM) and Group BPCE profited from favourable issuance conditions to bring new senior trades to the euro market this week, though bankers say that borrowers have had to start paying premiums to investors again.

Issuance of Italian bank debt in 2019 has nearly caught up with last year’s running total. Banca Popolare di Sondrio this week followed Mediobanca and UniCredit into the market to cap off a big week of supply by the nation’s lenders. The run could yet extend further, with UBI Banca gearing up for a debut green bond.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has fined Fitch for conflicts of interest, relating to ratings given to entities where French billionaire businessman Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière sat on the board. The French businessman indirectly owned a stake in the ratings agency.

European banks have been given a boost in equity and debt markets this week, after Peter Praet, a member of the European Central Bank’s executive board, suggested that the terms of a new series of targeted longer term refinancing operations (TLTRO III) could be made more favourable for banks, if needed, to help them lend to the economy.