Europe

The sell-off in Italy’s equity and debt markets in the lead-up to the creation of a new Italian government shows that investors are nervy about the euroscepticism of its new law makers, but Europe also has a part to play in ensuring that markets don't end up in straits such as the sovereign debt crisis of 2009-12.

DS Smith, the UK packaging company, has offered to buy Spanish rival Europac, with £1.65bn of financing underwritten by US banks already prepared for the transaction.

Royal Bank of Scotland shares are trading flat to the sale price of a £2.5bn block sold by the government last night, a good result for the banks involved after a trade that risks being politically tricky.

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust has raised £170m in long-dated US private placement notes.

The IPO of Adyen, the Dutch payments company, which is one of the most anticipated listings in Europe this year, has got off to a good start, with the book covered throughout the range just over an hour after being opened.

KBC Group is preparing to sell its first green bond as a senior unsecured deal in euros, as primary markets begin to grind back into gear.

Jonas Klink, who has left Santander covered bond trading in Madrid, will join Barclays.

Marc Lewell is returning to London after three years running JP Morgan’s Asia-Pacific syndicate, prompting the appointment of a new head of the desk.

Carrefour, the French supermarkets group, sold Europe's second corporate bond deal of the week on Tuesday, as the market slowly recovered from the volatility of the previous week. There still remained some nervousness around market conditions, however, so Carrefour had to ensure it offered investors a healthy premium.

Hamburger Sparkasse (HASPA) paid a small new issue premium for its five year Pfandbrief on Tuesday, and will be followed on Wednesday with more German covered bonds in the belly of the curve from Commerzbank and Stadtsparkasse München. Despite the ease of five year execution, some bankers believe the 10 year is also open — and could soon be supplied by a fourth German issuer.

Larry Thompson, vice-chairman of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp, on Tuesday suggested that populist rhetoric in the US might be overshadowing President Trump's strong choices of leaders in independent financial oversight agencies.

Swiss telecommunications group Salt Mobile was this week looking to replace most of its debt capital structure with Sfr2.085bn-equivalent (€1.8bn) of new bonds that have weaker covenants, as the high yield market overcomes a recent bout of eurozone volatility.