Europe

Amid the chaos in Turkey, bankers are pitching bond buy-back opportunities to the country's beleaguered banks. Many argue that those in a position to take them up should be looked upon favourably by investors. The problem is, those investors might not even notice.

The European Central Bank announced on Monday that it was imposing a €4.8m penalty on Crédit Agricole for not obtaining prior permission for classifying instruments as common equity tier one (CET1) capital. It is the second largest fine it has handed to an entity in relation to its supervisory tasks.

Commerzbank was offering enough of a spread for its debut preferred senior deal to be able to tap into a deep pool of pent-up demand in the euro market on Tuesday.

Credit Suisse has appointed a new head of its equity-linked debt business in EMEA, following Frank Heitmann’s move to a senior investment banking coverage role.

Countrywide, the UK-based estate agent, is close to ending an unpleasant chapter of its history after completing an emergency equity capital raising, with a large number of investors taking up their shareholder rights during an open offer.

Eika Boligkreditt was more than twice subscribed for its no-grow deal on Tuesday, offering German investors a decent pick-up over both Bunds and Aareal Bank, which also came to the market.

Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederoesterreich-Wien (RLB NÖ-Wien) announced a mandate for a new trade on Tuesday, hoping that the rare product type and a fixed deal size will attract investors.

Chris Munro, co-head of leveraged finance for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, is leaving London to take up a new role as the bank’s sole global head of leveraged finance in New York.

International Finance Corporation mandated banks for a new sterling benchmark deal on Monday, with the issuer returning to the currency for the second time this year.

The operational merger of Cades and Agence France Trésor will be completed by the end of 2018, with a full integration of staff from both agencies.

Greece is expected to return to the bond market before the end of the year, after it exited its third bailout programme on Monday, August 20. But the sovereign needs the ‘perfect’ window amid emerging and peripheral market volatility, said bankers.

The UK’s Octopus Investments has signed a £174m loan package to refinance a biomass and landfill gas portfolio.