Europe

Equity markets began the week facing what could well have proved major disruption in the form of Sunday's Italian election result and talk of tariffs in the US. But they have proven remarkably resilient to global shocks.

GlobalCapital can reveal the three most sustainable banks, as picked by Oekom Research in its 2018 Corporate Responsibility Review, which has not yet been published.

Even allowing for the pause in European corporate bond issuance caused by the volatility of global markets early in February, the month's primary activity proved to be meagre. But investors are hoping the signs for March are better.

The IPO of Siemens Healthineers was covered on day one of its bookbuild on Tuesday after its parent, Siemens, set a price range designed to please potential investors in the IPO of its medical technology division.

Dublin, Ireland-based Fly Leasing plans to raise a $1.3bn loan to acquire aircraft assets from budget carrier AirAsia.

If the Norwegian bond market’s light touch approach to documentation means investors lose out, the Nordic aspiration to become the venue of choice for Northern Europe's high yield issuers may never materialise.

A combination of economic reforms and economic turnaround has made Italy into one of the fastest growing equity success stories in Europe, something which will likely continue despite the increasing likelihood of an anti-EU government following Sunday’s election.

SSA borrowers are piling up in dollars. Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK) will bring a five year benchmark on Wednesday, coming on the heels of Oesterreichische Kontrollbank’s (OeKB) own deal in the tenor on Tuedsay.

Kommunekredit has printed a €1bn five year note — but two more SSA borrowers are lining up further out in the curve.

The State of North Rhine Westphalia broke its size record with a sustainability bond on Tuesday, printing €2.025bn and cutting 2bp from guidance to offer a skinny new issue premium.

Derivatives exchanges around the world reported strong February volumes this week, potentially painting a rosy picture for the year ahead as markets seem set to return to higher volatility.

Belfius Bank said on Tuesday that it was ‘exploring opportunities’ for issuing up to €200m of new tier two bonds, which would help the issuer to improve the composition of its capital stack.