Europe

Santander UK Group raised €750m of floating rate notes (FRNs) in the euro market on Tuesday, as credit spreads struggled to perform on the back a recent surge of bank bond supply.

Russia’s new bond may well be an act of defiance from the government, but it was also a savvy move in the capital markets as pressure on the country increases. Russia must have been keen to show that it did not need to alter course for funding in the face of allegations that it has poisoned ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK. But financially it was also a sensible move that helps to fund the country in the face of an escalation of the situation.

Ukrainian steel and mining company Metinvest is planning to buy back the complex secured bonds it issued as part of its $2.3bn debt restructuring last year, and will finance the move with a new dual tranche dollar offering.

A long-awaited additional tier one (AT1) from HSBC was trading up on Tuesday, having offered investors an attractive premium.

The IPO of Dutch bank NIBC was due to be priced on Thursday evening at the bottom of its initial range, valuing the company at €1.28bn.

Kommunalbanken announced a two year dollar benchmark on Monday, coming on the heels of a strong week for dollar issuance.

Funding for leveraged buyouts in the European primary high yield market gained further share of overall issuance this week, as specialty car parts maker LKQ of Chicago sold a €1bn bond for its acquisition of German peer Stahlgruber.

The Futures Industry Association has called for changes to European derivative reporting rules, suggesting that some aspects of the regulations are "duplicative" and not properly tailored to listed products.

Investment grade borrowers have taken their feet off the early refinancing pedal, as they bet that benign loan market conditions will continue despite the upheaval expected in the bond markets in the coming months.

Helaba and VC Trade have launched a digital platform for Schuldschein issuance, in an ambitious attempt to cut costs for arrangers, issuers and investors alike, while making the market more transparent.

Two new SRI corporate bonds were priced on Monday, but with very different results. Iberdrola’s green hybrid bond failed to tighten from initial price thoughts, while Danone’s debut social bond had to pay just 2bp of premium.

Italian business software vendor TeamSystem returned to the public bond market to refinance a floating rate note it placed privately in 2016, as high yield fund managers increase their demand for floating rate debt this year.