Europe

Standard Life Aberdeen is looking to tender grandfathered tier one debt after selling its life insurance arm to Phoenix Group, and is considering what to do with its outstanding tier two bonds. Meanwhile, Moody’s downgraded the sold-off unit on Monday.

The Republic of Albania hit screens on Tuesday to print a €500m seven year no-grow and, in the face of strong demand, was able to pull in the spread.

MetLife chose to come to market with a bulldog bond on Tuesday, looking to sell funding agreement-backed securities (FABS). It became the issuer’s smallest sterling trade since 2006 with a barely subscribed book.

NordLB has recently expanded its covered bond trading desk, hiring a dealer with considerable experience in the market.

Nep Group, a US producer of broadcast programmes, gave price talk below 400bp for all first lien loans in the financing for its buyout by Carlyle, a further sign that margins have tightened in the leveraged loan market.

Dartington Hall Trust, a charity and social enterprise in Devon in the UK, is looking to attract bondholders for a secured deal open to retail investors. It has eschewed the London Stock Exchange’s order book for retail bonds (ORB) to use NEX instead.

UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) chair Charles Randell invoked ancient Greek mythology during a speech on Tuesday in which he said that the FCA did not see Brexit as an “opportunity to join a race to the bottom in regulatory standards”.

Commerzbank is getting ready to sell its first green bonds, using the non-preferred senior format as a way of providing funding for renewable energy projects.

Lloyds Banking Group was selling a new additional tier one in the dollar market on Tuesday, as members of the UK's governing party met for a conference in Birmingham. Investors in UK assets are keenly focused on the risk that the UK exits the EU without an agreement with the bloc.

The French government sold a €1.24bn stake in Safran, the French aerospace and defence company, after the market closed on Monday night, another step in fulfilling the Macron government’s economic plans.

Finnvera is aiming to raise an additional €500m for its funding programme this year as a result of a surge in the agency’s lending.

Bookrunners on Aston Martin's IPO priced the landmark transaction at £19 ($24.71) a share on Wednesday, a boon for the company and a sign that markets backed its ambitious growth strategy. But the stock has traded down in the aftermarket.