Europe

UniCredit has made three senior appointments in Asia, including to its management in Singapore and Mumbai, as well as hiring Florence Blazy as a senior banker in France.

Following the publication of primary covered bond legislation two years ago, Brazil’s central bank this week launched a public consultation on draft secondary covered bond legislation.

Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (PBB) eschewed cheap four year financing provided by the European Central Bank (ECB) under its long term refinancing facility to issue a 4.5 year Pfandbrief on Wednesday. The short and rarely issued tenor was easily absorbed and offered almost 52bp more than Bunds, in contrast to a French covered bond issued on Tuesday.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken mandated banks for its first green senior bond on Wednesday, as a growing number of banks catch on to the merits of the format.

Russian gold producer Polyus Gold earned praise from its lead managers for not over-tightening pricing on a new bond on Tuesday after the poor performance of an aggressive deal from compatriot Rusal last week.

Crédit Mutuel Arkéa found strong demand for a €500m 12 year tier two on Wednesday, as investors showed their appetite for a product that could become a rarer sight in 2017.

After four busy weeks, European corporate bond market on Wednesday was deserted but for a benchmark deal from Avinor, the Norwegian state-owned airport operator.

HSBC has promoted Hossein Zaimi to become global head of equities, replacing Patrick George in the role, who continues as EMEA global markets head.

The corporate bond market is keeping apace this week, with the first hybrid of the year joining unrated deals for Porr and Louis Dreyfuss. But conditions in the leveraged finance market favour loans, as numerous repricings punctuate the market between few buyouts.

After a fantastic start to the year the FIG market has remained accommodative to borrowers and trades of all shapes and sizes, with a natural slowdown during blackout periods helping to quell any signs of indigestion.

Tuesday night brought fireworks in the blocks market, with a wave of primary and secondary offerings, including a Sfr865m acquisition financing by a Swiss pharmaceutical.

Even with much of Asia inactive due to the Chinese New Year holiday, emerging market bonds seemed a more nervous market this week with only one issuer braving a deal.