Europe

The European Central Bank (ECB) confirmed senior unsecured bonds subject to statutory subordination would be eligible as collateral next year, clearing up an important question posed by Germany’s approach to making bail-in possible.

Dutch insurer and asset manager NN Group offered to buy local rival Delta Lloyd for €2.4bn on Wednesday, triggering a rally in the latter’s bond and equity values and creating an expectation for consolidation within the country’s insurance sector.

Otkritie Bank returned to the international bond market for the first time since the start of the Russia crisis on Tuesday, surprising market watchers with its tactics with no explanation offered.

After a slow start to the week, emerging market investors were offered a smorgasbord of options as borrowers from four continents and across the credit spectrum launched bonds in dollars and euros.

It was shaping up to be a healthy week for euro issuance in the SSA market until a rumour about the European Central Bank planning to “taper off” its asset purchase programme ruined the vibe.

This has been a week of wariness for euro investment grade corporate bonds. A German public holiday on Monday kept a lid on deals, but there were at least two go/no-go calls on Tuesday that yielded no deals, despite an improving tone in corporate spreads and stock markets.

Block issuance has been active this week, with three notable accelerated bookbuilds all sold well. Monday also brought the announcement of what could be the largest IPO in London this year.

Two equity block trades came out in the European market on Tuesday evening, both of which achieved successful sales.

Attitudes towards Russian credits have miraculously softened this year and the friendly new outlook has even filtered to the loan market, as last week Norilsk Nickel signed the first sizeable unsecured dollar loan since the EU and US imposed their sanctions. But loans bankers would do well to remember what drove them away from Russian deals in the first place.

Deutsche Bank, its balance sheet and the market it operates in are worlds away from where major financial institutions stood in 2008 — so those scaremongering either have their own incentives for doing so or should know better.

The European Commission has approved, with some amendments, rules for collecting margin on uncleared derivatives, traversing a key hurdle as Europe seeks to catch up with Canada, Japan and the US.

Italy joined the ultra-long borrower club on Tuesday, attracting more than €18.5bn of demand for its first ever 50 year syndication.