Europe

The Bank of England has released a new working paper on the impact of the leverage ratio for derivatives, arguing that the ratio had a “disincentivising effect” on client clearing for the period evaluated, confirming the views of many industry participants.

Five borrowers helped to contribute to a heavy deal pipeline for acquisitions and refinancings this week, as secondary spreads tightened after last week's no issuance.

ASA International, a microfinance institution backed by private equity firm Sequoia Amsterdam, is seeking to become Europe’s first publicly listed microfinance company, through a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange.

Despite worries that Russian investors are pulling away from London as the UK looks to pressure allies of the country's president Vladimir Putin, Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, this week told GlobalCapital that preserving the rule of law in the UK and making sure markets are “clean and honest” is more important than attracting Russian capital to London.

Dutch firm Orange Capital Partners has signed a €78.5m credit facility to refinance debt secured against multiple residential portfolios in the Netherlands, with US lender PGIM Real Estate Finance making its first such loan as part of the transaction.

CYBG has agreed to buy Virgin Money for £1.7bn, paving the way for a new major challenger bank on the UK high street. The combined bank will be strong in mortgages but have only £7.6bn of corporate and SME loans.

EPP, a Polish real estate investment company, has come to market for a five year euro benchmark in what will be the first non-corporate bond from CEE since early May, but early indications suggest a lukewarm reception.

To help celebrate the 20th anniversary of the setting up of the UK Debt Management Office, GlobalCapital gathered together some of the UK Gilt market’s leading traders, investors and bankers, with its CEO Sir Robert Stheeman, to discuss the state of the bond markets, how they have changed since the DMO was established in April 1998 and how the government’s investor base and bond issuance are likely to evolve over the coming years.

Société Générale returned to the covered bond market for the second time this year and found strong demand for its tightly priced long seven year. The excellent reception will help boost confidence for Erste Group and Caffil, which have both mandated for follow-on covered bonds.

De Volksbank began the process of selling its second issuance of senior bonds supply in the financial institutions bond market this week.

Developing markets investment bank Exotix Capital has continued its recent expansion and made three new hires to its global equity team.

Raiffeisen Bank International has become the latest European bank to announce plans to sell its first green bond, with the Austrian firm keen to finance new sustainable loans with its inaugural issue.