Europe

Nordea Asset Management’s European Covered Bond Opportunities fund has gotten off to a flying start, having been launched in February on the premise it would deliver twice the return of its low duration predecessor.

Barclays and Natwest Markets have come first and second in league tables for cross-border activity in the US private placement market. As US private placements become more popular in the UK, British banks have strengthened their status in the market.

The Turkish lira has suffered heavy losses against the dollar, falling to its weakest level since October 2018 and shaking market participants’ confidence in the ability of the country's borrowers to access the market.

Debt capital market officials are curious to see whether financial institutions bond investors are prepared to welcome deals from rarer and smaller names, after the boom in supply in March.

The European Council and Parliament signed a deal last week regarding the bloc’s financial supervisors. The European Banking Authority was set to receive new anti-money laundering (AML) responsibilities, but member states blocked some attempts to centralise supervisory powers.

The State of North-Rhine Westphalia increased the size of its century bond through syndication again last Friday, having tapped the bond only three days before.

In this round-up, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bank of China to issue a Rmb5bn Panda bond, Bank of Beijing and ING agreed to launch a JV and the Shanghai tech board published detailed information on nine IPO candidates.

The Netherlands has targeted a window in May for its debut green bond, which will be sold through a Dutch Direct Auction.

Medacta, a manufacturer of orthopaedic devices, was covered within hours of setting the terms on its Swiss IPO, valuing the company at up to Sfr2.08bn.

Spanish telecommunications company Cellnex’s €1.2bn rights issue has finished more than 16 times covered after its shareholders bought into its growth plans.

Virgin Money sold its debut covered bond on Friday. The deal was well subscribed but it attracted much less demand than two earlier Sonia-linked trades this week, reflecting weakening sentiment among investors.

Norwegian seafood company Mowi has launched a Schuldschein, joining a growing flock of Nordic issuers seeking funds in the German loan market.