Europe

Transposing the European Commission’s covered bond directive into Spanish Cédulas law should result in multi-notch Cédulas upgrades, Fitch said. This could help allay concerns about other legal reforms that will lower collateral protection, and help boost confidence that the impending overhaul of the Spanish legal framework can be executed deftly.

Portugal will need to disclose more information about its finances to proceed with its planned Panda bond issuance in China, according to a document published on the regulator’s website but later pulled.

The reformed EU Emissions Trading System has produced a sharp rise in the carbon price since November — which ought to spur industry to cut CO2 emissions faster. Yet because of the complex way European energy policy works, the pace of reductions is likely to slow, according to Moody’s.

The European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) decision to fine five Nordic banks last week has raised two questions: just how consistently will rules be applied across Europe, and is it even appropriate that they are?

Aviva has opened a £14m ($18.25m) goodwill payment programme for investors who lost money by selling its preference shares after it said it could cancel the securities at par.

Investors buying the bonds of banks must weigh up strong results and improved balance sheets with upcoming political flashpoints around the world. Meanwhile, supply has dried up along with the weather, but issuers could choose to beat the rush at the end of the month.

Hopes rose this week of a revival for Russia’s equity capital markets when the US Treasury extended a key sanctions licence until October, allowing aluminium conglomerate EN+ to continue with a plan that would remove sanctions on the company.

Europe’s investment grade corporate bond market is unusually vibrant for the time of year, with €6.5bn of issuance this week, including jumbo deals from Daimler and AT&T. Issuers chose to pounce upon market conditions more resplendent than earlier in the summer, rather than take the risk of waiting until September. Now more companies are expected to exploit this issuance window. Aidan Gregory reports.

The Bank of England on Thursday raised its base rate by 25bp to 0.75%, a move that was widely expected and one that brought next to no market reaction — keeping conditions calm for what could be a record year for SSA sterling issuance. L-Bank added to that tally on the same day with a deal that came 25% above its initial size target.

Fitch has assigned an AAA rating to the debut covered bond programme of ING Bank in Australia (INGBA).

The financing for the €1bn acquisition of roofing business Imerys Toiture to Lone Star Funds was revised this week to include a subordinated debt tranche, as levfin investors still active in August pocket riskier but higher yielding paper.

UK estate agent Countrywide has turned to the equity capital markets to resolve its debt issues and has initiated a share sale to raise £129m as part of its “Absolute Growth Plan” to turn its fortunes around.