Europe

A funding official for a southern European sub-sovereign borrower has warned that a victory for an anti-European Union candidate in the upcoming French presidential election could “bring misery to southern Europe as never seen after the Second World War”.

The European Covered Bond Council has restated its support for the concept of a high quality principle-based covered bond framework and warned against altering the preferential regulatory status of the asset class.

Australia’s QBE Insurance group offered the latest example of innovation in the green bond market this week, opening books on the insurance sector’s first ever deal in the format.

Bank of America became the first US bank to target the euro market for new senior debt after publishing first quarter results, as the firm and its compatriot peers pile into the capital market for new total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) eligible deals.

UK forecourt operator Euro Garages held a lender call this morning for a repricing request on its £250m and €585m term loans, a deal one investor on Thursday said was a potential barometer of where market pricing now is.

Bank ABC has successfully closed a $213m syndicated loan to Albaraka Türk Bank and launched another two new deals on Wednesday.

Turkey’s Isbank cut through post-referendum uncertainties on Thursday to bring a new senior bond but offered plenty of juice to get things started.

Banco Santander Totta did well to raise €1bn of seven year funding on Thursday at a record level through govies, given the damaging ramifications for peripheral Europe that would follow if France’s far left and far right presidential candidates made it through to the second round of voting.

Russian steel and iron ore firm Metalloinvest has agreed terms for a $1.05bn pre-export finance facility (PXF) with a syndicate of banks.

Deutsche Bank has launched separate exchange and tender offers on its $4.5bn 4.25% 2021 bonds in a bid to maximise the amount of total loss absorbing capacity eligible (TLAC) senior debt it has outstanding.

Credit terms for counterparties using euro-denominated OTC derivatives have worsened since December, according to a panel of 28 banks, marking their biggest reported tightening since the consultation started in 2013.

Agrokor’s biggest creditor Sberbank has refused to be part of its additional funding, initially set for up to €150m, not long after it lost control of the restructuring.