Europe

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China sold a dual-tranche floating rate transaction on Wednesday, getting significant interest from western accounts as it used its London arm as the issuing vehicle.

The European Commission has published a waiver allowing issuers to collateralise their cover pools with more than 10% mortgage-backed securities. Although the carve-out is theoretically permanent it could well be superseded by a covered bond framework, which is due in the first quarter 2018.

Shares in Sabre Insurance, the specialist UK car insurer, rose 13% this week after it priced a £287m IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

Steinhoff International, the global retail conglomerate and one of South Africa’s largest companies, has seen its share price collapse in a historic sell-off, which onlookers say is unprecedented for South African equities.

The Republic of Iceland looks set to bring its first syndication in over three years before the year end, after mandating banks on Wednesday to run a euro trade.

The City of Vienna’s loans are three times subscribed three weeks into the marketing process, as investor appetite grows for longer-dated maturities.

Crédit Agricole has added to the momentum in systematic internaliser sign up, joining other banks in registering as one well ahead of a 2018 deadline.

More than 90% of Fitch-rated covered bond programmes have a stable outlook due to the considerable rating cushion between issuers and their covered bonds, or because they are secured on a substantial amount of excess collateral.

On Wednesday, the euro corporate bond market reminded any doubters that it was still very much open for business with five tranches totalling €3bn being priced by three well known issuers.

Russian diamond producer Alrosa has signed unsecured bilateral loans for $600m to refinance a previous loan at tighter pricing. It follows the trend of loosening loan structures as bankers get more comfortable with Russian risk.

Twelve deals last week led many in the corporate bond market to believe this week would be the final busy week of the year. However, the roadshow schedule is now bare and investors believe they are starting to see the end of 2017.

Dutch lawmakers have started working on legislation that will eventually allow the country’s banks to start issuing non-preferred senior bonds for the minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL).