Europe

Gazprom, the Russian state oil and gas company, printed its $1.25bn 5.15% 2026s on Wednesday, with a book that peaked at over $5bn and with pricing estimated at 5bp-10bp inside its own curve, according to lead managers. The bond was the first from Russia in dollars since the US sanctions imposed on the country last April.

BBVA has announced the new leader of its global corporate and investment banking operations.

Rothschild has launched a new practice to offer firms advice on engaging with shareholders this week, in response to what is sees as increasing demand. It has picked two head co-heads of shareholder engagement to work in the area.

Italy passed a test at the long end of the curve with a final order book of over €41bn for a 30 year syndication on Wednesday — far surpassing its previous record book that was set only last month.

KfW set yet another landmark for a supranational and agency sterling market enjoying its best ever start to the year, as the German borrower drew a big book while placing the longest dated new issue of the year so far on Wednesday.

GlobalCapital understands that the Spanish government has approved requests from the Balearic Islands and Castile and Leon to issue new debt. More approvals could follow “in the next few weeks” for the Basque Country and Galicia, according to a DCM banker based in Madrid.

Gazprom, the Russian state oil and gas company, has released price guidance for its seven year dollar benchmark bond, offering a 15bp new issue concession, according to investors. Credit Bank of Moscow is also queued for a return to the international bond markets next week in euros. Russian issuers are re-emerging after some of the US sanctions were lifted last month, improving sentiment.

Sparebanken Vest Boligkreditt opened books on the first covered bond of the week on Wednesday and managed to issue its largest ever deal with no new issue concession.

Capital market sentiment in the UK has weakened as the country awaits the detail of its scheduled departure from the EU, if a couple of indicators published this week are anything to go by. However, even a bad Brexit could be welcomed by corporate financiers.

Green bond issuance has been in hot demand so far this year with investors allocating ever greater sums to sustainable and ethical mandates. However, it is not just the green labels on deals that are affecting their decisions.

Banco Santander opened books on a new additional tier one deal in dollars on Wednesday, surprising market participants who thought the Spanish bank would not refinance an older series of euro notes before their call date on March 12.

Covered bond new issue concessions and spreads have tightened considerably since the start of the year, but it is unsustainable, according to one major investor.