Europe

The Single Resolution Board published a position paper on Brexit on Thursday in which it explained that it would take a "case-by-case" approach with banks that fail to meet the minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) as a result of the UK’s departure from the European Union.

A large UK council has held discussions with a selection of US private placement (US PP) arrangers over the possibility of raising more than £200m in a single issue, according to a senior banker familiar with the situation.

An unfortunately timed Gilt auction recorded the highest yield tail — an indicator typically inversely proportional to an auction’s perceived success — in nearly a decade on Thursday, as several UK government ministers resigned over the draft Brexit agreement with the EU. But SSA bankers said that while the tail was “optically” bad, the wider context meant the Gilt sale had been a success.

In an otherwise barren week for block trades, Hansa Medical, the Swedish biotechnology company, raised Skr399.8m of fresh capital to fund product development. The deal also provided an opportunity for Nexttobe AB to sell a portion of its stake in the company.

The number of indices that give exposure to environmental, social and governance (ESG) causes has grown by 60% in the last year, according to a survey conducted by trade body, the Index Industry Association (IIA).

French toll road operator APRR had been quiet in 2018 by its own standards, but it sold its first corporate bond deal of the year on Wednesday with a €500m long 11 year trade. It paid a low new issue premium for the deal, but lost a number of orders along the way.

Liberbank plans to issue its first covered bond, Danske Bank in Finland is set to issue its first deal in three years and UniCredit Austria has announced a roadshow hot on the heels of a Pfandbrief issued by the German subsidiary.

Building materials company Knauf has signed a €4bn-equivalent underwritten debt package to go towards its purchase of US peer USG Corp, as lenders continue to reap the rewards of Germany’s booming M&A market.

The Netherland’s AVR has signed a €100m sustainable credit facility, with the waste to energy company pushing out maturities to up to seven years.

UniCredit’s CFO Mirko Bianchi has been on the road to meet North American investors after the bank released its third quarter results. From the end of the month, it expects to be prepared to issue its second ever senior non-preferred bond.

Private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners has signed €673m of debt facilities to back its acquisition of French energy infrastructure and services company Idex.

Two emerging market borrowers had to postpone deals this week, thanks to volatility in the market. Naftogaz and Emirates NBD have had to put plans for their five year dollar benchmarks on hold.