Europe

A decade on from the last financial crisis, rating agency Moody’s has identified a number of risky issues which may significantly affect European corporate borrowers, should another crisis occur, despite the improvements that have been made.

Warner Music and Playtech announced new bond offerings with a combined €730m volume on Monday, less than the latest weekly inflows for high yield retail funds. But Bilfinger pulled its deal.

The covered bond market has a reputation for allowing tough trades to be done, so when My Money Bank postponed its debut deal, the product was imprudently tarnished. The situation could have been avoided had the deal been launched a week earlier or sometime later — just not last week.

Amendments proposed by the European Parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee (Econ) in response to the European Commission’s (EC) proposed covered bond directive would fragment the market, said Moody’s.

Kommuninvest hit screens on Monday for the first dollar benchmark by a Nordic public sector borrower since August.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Monday unveiled a much touted white paper on how the organisation's chairman, Christopher Giancarlo, would like to overhaul US oversight of foreign swaps markets.

Shurgard Safe Storage, the largest self storage property company in Europe, has begun bookbuilding for its flotation on Euronext Brussels, with a price range that values the company at a premium to its closest peers

The European Parliament’s shadow rapporteurs have submitted a number of new amendments to the European Commission’s proposed covered bond directive. In stark contrast to the EP's first amendments, the shadow rapporteurs consider bonds with extendable maturities "less risky".

Germany’s Uniper has refinanced its syndicated credit facility early, with the energy group joining a growing trend of borrowers trimming the number of banks in its lending group.

Knorr-Bremse, the German manufacturer of brake systems for trucks and trains, opened IPO books on Monday and was covered almost immediately after launch.

VC Trade, a leading digital platform in the Schuldschein market, has added law firms Linklaters and White & Case as its preferred counsel. VC Trade believes this cuts costs for Schuldschein borrowers prepared to engage with the technology.

Abengoa, the Spanish renewable energy group, is seeking to convince its investors to engage in yet another rescue plan, which includes debt swaps with no cash coupons and new convertible bonds.