Europe

The collapse in the Turkish lira has stoked fears as to how the nation’s borrowers will repay their foreign currency debt just as the country's foreign exchange reserves are shrinking.

Turkey’s finance minister, Berat Albayrak, is holding an investor call at 2pm London time today. Over 5,000 participants are registered for the call and will be looking to see if the politician can bring calm to the crisis engulfing Turkish and wider emerging markets.

Bankers working within France’s equity capital markets are resigned to the fact that 2018 is going to be a very poor vintage for French IPOs, with volumes down significantly versus last year, a string of failed deals and supply unlikely to pick up in the second half.

The US Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) has an unprecedented decision to make on whether to accept a reported offer from EN+ owner Oleg Deripaska to sell shares in the company to VTB Bank. The aim of the deal is to reduce the oligarch’s majority stake in the aluminium conglomerate, which, it is hoped, will result in sanctions against it being removed.

Standard Chartered has appointed a new head of syndicate, as well as a new head of DCM West and DCM East.

A note by law firm Mayer Brown has advised counterparties trading with International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) documentation to consider special amendments if they want their contracts to take into account the effects of negative interest rates, referencing a recent court decision.

Sweden’s Modern Times Group (MTG) and its subsidiary Nordic Entertainment Group have agreed a five year revolving credit facility in the run up to the subordinate company being spun off.

EM bond investors are watching Turkish banks closely, as some of the banks have heavy maturities falling due in the next year and capital ratios are being battered by the huge drop in the lira. But DCM bankers are telling these issuers that the lower levels may mean there are opportunities for buy-backs.

Lloyds Banking Group entered the Swiss franc bond market on Thursday after a seven year absence.

Gazprom may have stepped away from the international capital markets but its liquidity position remains strong enough to keep it afloat for the foreseeable future, provided the diplomatic situation between Russia and the US does not worsen.

Senvion, the German maker of wind turbines, has raised €62.5m of fresh capital to fund its expansion in new markets such as India, where the Indian government has announced plans to build 30,000 mega watts of offshore wind capacity by 2030.

Global investor confidence in UK equities has tumbled so far in August, according to the latest fund manager survey from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, marking the largest monthly drop in sentiment towards the UK since the Brexit referendum.