Europe

Catalonia cancelled its ratings contract with S&P Global last Friday to save costs, according to an official at its Treasury. But the source added that rating agency reports “don’t show the actual picture of Catalan finances” due to Spanish central government control.

Investors were queuing up to buy Bankia’s latest additional tier one transaction on Monday, as the Spanish bank reopened the subordinated bond market for Southern European borrowers.

SpareBank 1 Østlandet is planning to issue its second senior unsecured bond in the euro market about six months after completing its debut deal.

French electrical utility Engie found success with a benchmark dual tranche issue of corporate bonds on its third visit to the euro bond market in 2018. The company opted for no-grows with both tranches, which served to increase demand markedly compared with its previous deal.

Merian Chrysalis Investment Co, a new Guernsey-based investment fund backed by Old Mutual Global Investors, is preparing to raise £200m to finance the creation of an investment portfolio of stakes in unlisted companies.

Raiffeisenlandesbank Vorarlberg issued its inaugural covered bond on Monday which, despite offering a modest concession, was the most oversubscribed benchmark Austrian transaction since May.

On Friday, AkzoNobel and Suse announced new deals in the already bustling European markets for high yield bonds and leveraged loans, bolstering expectations of record volume for September.

Asset Value Investors, the UK money manager, is seeking to raise £100m to £200m of capital in an initial public offering in London, to invest in a small portfolio of Japanese stocks and agitate for them to distribute cash to shareholders.

UK property company Grosvenor Britain & Ireland placed three private placements with six different investors this week, two of which were new to the credit. Some of the funds will go towards the firm's plans to help ease the UK's housing shortage.

The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) on Friday said that the leverage ratio should recognise the exposure-reducing nature of initial margin, becoming the latest body to call for change on the issue.

Lloyds Bank attracted stellar demand for the first Sonia-linked trade from a FIG borrower. The covered bond format was swiftly followed by a senior unsecured deal from Royal Bank of Canada. Bill Thornhill reports.

Banks that deal in Yankees, including Nordea, HSBC and BPCE, raised $16bn in new funding as the market reopened with a bang after the Labor Day holiday.