Europe

Yields on Turkey’s sovereign debt hit 20% this week, stoking fears of a debt crisis. But breaking the purported psychological importance of the 20% ceiling does not add much to the well-established litany of issues facing the country’s economy.

UniCredit’s senior management team had to fend off a barrage of questions about the bank’s exposure to Turkish bank Yapi Kredi this week, as yields spiked on Turkish local currency debt and the lira slid further against the dollar. UniCredit’s equity stake is accounted at €2.5bn, but worth less than €1.2bn in today’s market.

The Italian banking sector could be hurtling towards another crisis this autumn, with the government’s budget negotiations expected to put pressure on the bond market, worsening funding conditions for banks, write Jasper Cox and Bill Thornhill.

A pair of US sanctions against Russia could have potentially disastrous consequences for local and international bond investors, especially if a planned ban against the purchase of new sovereign debt takes effect, writes Lewis McLellan.

Rating: A3/BBB+

The European Securities and Markets Authority recently fined a clutch of Nordic banks for breaking credit rating regulations. The decision could have implications for the Schuldschein market — where arranging banks issue similar ratings to investors.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May may have rebuked her International trade secretary Liam Fox for his suggestion the chances of no-deal Brexit were now 60-40, but bookmakers Boyle Sports has exactly those odds for those who want to put any money on it. If that is the likely outcome now, what will it mean for the execution of bond deals?

Emerging market sovereigns are regarded as stalwarts of the credit default swaps (CDS) market. Their liquidity is dependable, and participants can usually trade in large size with relatively low transaction costs and little price impact.

Public sector borrowers are looking to complete their euro funding for the year as quickly as possible to avoid any backlash from potential market volatility.

Global banks are, for the moment at least, standing by their Turkish clients despite deepening financial problems in the country. The yield on Turkey’s 10 year sovereign bond hit almost 20% this week, driven to this vertiginous height by diplomatic tensions with the US and an economy riddled with problems. Silas Brown and Lewis McLellan report.

BMC Software was set to print $2bn of triple-C rated bonds this week, as it changes sponsor hands from Bain and Golden Gate to KKR. The new owner was also pushing for some of the loosest covenants in the market.

Barclays and BNP Paribas both waited until August to seal additional tier one trades that investors had been expecting for the best part of 2018, pulling off their deals ahead of what could be a busier and trickier finish to the year.