Europe

A handful of deals could hit the euro market for public sector borrowers next week, with the seven year part of the curve looking particularly attractive — the latest evidence for which was a KfW trade this week.

The roll of iTraxx credit indices this week, coupled with a monthly credit options expiry, prompted a burst of trading activity and brought some surprises — with Crossover trading going against expectations and volatility traders entering into unusually long-dated expiries.

CaixaBank, the Barcelona-based retail bank, has launched a €1.3bn accelerated bookbuild this evening to sell a 9.9% stake in itself, as part of its move to take over Banco BPI of Portugal. The deal is one of four block trades in the European market this evening.

The European Central Bank is to consult leveraged loan players on official market guidelines similar to those the US brought in three years ago. The set it is already drafting for publication later this year and launch in 2017 is likely to contain what an official termed “key features of US guidance”.

With as many as three issuers bringing new deals as banks finally grasp the mounting investor appeal of socially responsible debt, the FIG market is on course for its greenest year ever, writes Tyler Davies.

Rating: BBB/BBB

Rating: B1/—

Worries over an upcoming Italian constitutional referendum have driven a wedge between Italy and Spain’s sovereign bond curve, which is at a level not seen since January 2015, according to Société Générale.

French non-performing loan servicing firm MCS Groupe printed its €200m five year floating rate note at 5.75% over Euribor on Wednesday. The deal received a boost in trading on Thursday as the market welcomed the Fed’s decision to hold interest rates.

Intercontinental Exchange, the US based exchange and clearing business, has made main board appointments and named a new chairperson for the board of its ICE Clear Europe subsidiary.

Nets, the Nordic digital payments processor, fell on its first day of trading in Copenhagen, after completing a Dkr15.75bn ($2.4bn) IPO that won very strong demand and was priced highly.

Russian Railways (RZD) is weighing up the first rouble Eurobond for several years as low global yields boost support for rouble denominated debt.