Europe

With less than two weeks to go until Good Friday, the wave of IPOs launched over the past month is progressing well, with very few failed or restructured deals, while all the flotations of significant size that have been completed already have performed well in the aftermarket.

The Bank of England’s new biennial ‘exploratory’ scenario (BES) suggests stress testing has entered an improved and more mature phase, putting the spotlight on business models as well as capital adequacy.

Instituto de Crédito Oficial brought some rare short dated euro paper this week and was able to rely on heavy support outside the bank community — despite some people on and off the deal expecting banks to buy the deal in bulk.

The pressure is off FIG issuers to refinance old funding deals in 2017, after an unexpectedly heavy take-up in the fourth and final round of the European Central Bank’s targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTRO II). The focus has instead shifted to regulatory debt, and that’s all about picking the right spots and issuing strategically. Tyler Davies reports.

HSBC is considering setting up a private debt platform within its asset management unit, a move one senior market professional said would break new ground in the sector.

The super strong bid for public sector dollar paper shows no signs of letting up, with Sweden this week printing the tightest deal to mid-swaps of 2017 — despite the large volume of paper already printed this year.

Halkbank has hit back against claims of any wrongdoing following the arrest of its deputy CEO Mehmet Hakan Atilla, while on an investor roadshow on Monday. The bank denies any involvement in breach of US sanctions but its planned tier two bond remains on hold as the market awaits further clarity, writes Virginia Furness.

A flurry of activity in the market for socially responsible investments shows no sign of letting up, with two borrowers set to make their debut next week and two more waiting in the wings.

Arvos, the industrial equipment firm, has a bank meeting scheduled for Friday in London for a €130m incremental term loan as it looks to repay its existing second lien facility.

The euro market looks set to swing back into full action next week as borrowers launch into their second quarter funding requirements, with an unusual amount of attention clustering around shorter maturities.

Shares in BioPharma Credit, the UK closed end investment fund focused on the debt of life sciences companies, closed 2.9% above their IPO price on Thursday when they started trading in London on Thursday after the company finished its $762m IPO.

With the first quarter of 2017 nearly over, investment banks’ heads of equity capital markets can report to their bosses a much improved flow of business, compared with last year.