Europe

The last week of June and the first week of July have traditionally heralded the start of the Wimbledon tennis championships. This year, however, the corporate bond markets have also seen a lot of back and forth as investors remain sensitive to potential risks.

Southern Gas Corridor, the 3,500km pipeline system costing $45bn that will run through Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and Italy, has signed a syndicated loan with guarantees totalling $750m-equivalent, as it begins its first commercial deliveries to Turkey.

Bank debt investors have calmed their nerves about the possibility that Dutch banks will call their additional tier ones at par, following a government proposal to tax the interest paid on the instruments.

Canaccord Genuity has hired Graeme Summers in its UK and Europe capital markets business as head of UK regions, to boost its corporate advisory and broking franchise in the north of England and Scotland.

The City's various lobby groups should be pushing the UK government to pick one of the real, off-the-shelf options on offer from the EU for Brexit, rather than indulging its fantasies of a bespoke deal.

The State of North Rhine-Westphalia is set to bring its longest ever euro benchmark, as public sector borrowers line up trades across the currency’s curve.

Deutsche Bahn sold 10 year Swiss franc bonds on Tuesday at a price roughly in line with its euro funding levels.

Dutch residential property company Vesteda offered euro corporate bond investors the first deal of July on Tuesday when it sold a €500m eight year trade to help refinance its acquisition of the Amstel Tower apartment block in Amsterdam.

Look past the investor disputes, the non-performing assets and the triple-C rating. A risky form of debt in one of Europe’s most troubled banks might just be a screaming buy opportunity.

The UK’s International Public Partnerships has amended and extended its £400m bank facility, keeping the sterling loan market going at full pace after it recorded its busiest quarter in five years at the end of June.

French alternative asset manager Tikehau Capital has hired Lorcan Kinsella for its loan trading team, as it expands its leveraged debt business.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has encouraged competent authorities to “not prioritise” penalising pension funds as the regulator prepares for a period where the institutions will not be granted an exemption from clearing their derivatives.