Europe

L-Bank will join the flood of dollar trades hitting screens this week on Thursday, after mandating four banks for a five year Reg S bond.

Seven bonds will be deliverable when dealers hold an auction next Thursday to settle credit default swaps referencing Portugal Telecom International Finance, with ISDA's Determinations Committee including June 20-terminating PorTel contracts in those triggered by the bankruptcy filing of Brazilian parent firm Oi.

South Africa's Steinhoff has agreed to buy UK discount retailer Poundland in a £597m deal, with Crédit Agricole one of two banks underwriting the loan financing. The French bank also benefited from Steinhoff’s thwarted bid for Darty earlier this year, when it co-underwrote a facility for rival bidder Fnac.

GenSight Biologics, a niche French biotechnology firm focused on treating degenerative retinal and nervous system disorders, has completed its all-primary IPO on Euronext Paris, raising €46m to help bring its flagship drug GS010 to market in Europe and the US.

Commerzbank has merged its high yield and leveraged loan teams, appointing the former HY head to lead the new unit and leaving the former levloan head without a position at the bank.

Financial centres come and go, but they're mostly very resilient. London's been near the top of its game since the Napoleonic Wars. Will it take Brexit in its stride?

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has proposed a two year extension on the deadline for smaller trading counterparties to comply with a derivatives clearing obligation under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), citing lack of progress on the initiative.

Bank of Georgia is targeting a seven year bond, with the roadshow for the deal finishing on Wednesday.

Russia's State Transport Leasing Company (STLC) printed the first new Russian quasi-sovereign paper for six years on Tuesday, taking advantage of the recent rally in Russia debt to draw a $2.5bn book for a $500m five year deal.

UniCredit has dominated the headlines again this week, but this time for a better reason. Italy’s largest bank has also been its biggest loser of shareholder value, its shares falling 75% since last summer, as investors have lost trust in the sector.

New deals from Turkey’s Yapi Kredi, Majid Al Futtaim, and Russia’s State Transport Leasing Company this week prove that CEEMEA has finally shaken off any Brexit-related concerns and is now revelling in its apparent ‘safe haven’ status.

A day after selling 10% of its Italian online retail investment service Fineco Bank for €328m, UniCredit has this evening launched an accelerated bookbuild of 10% of Bank Pekao, the Polish bank of which it owns 50.3%.