Europe

After getting agreement to switch the maturity structure of six deals, the French bank received the consent of noteholders to switch the maturity of a seventh covered bond from hard to soft bullet at an adjourned meeting this week.

China’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) is set to issue its debut offshore renminbi (CNH) government bond in London as early as this month, with one Chinese bank and one foreign bank mandated on the deal.

Monte dei Paschi di Siena is beyond the help of Fondo Atlante, according to an ECB official, but new reforms could help the bank tackle its mountain of non-performing loans.

Italy’s scramble to prop up its weaker banks has halted what had been a strengthening rally in periphery bank debt last month, with the most recent deals all widening this week.

TriOptima, the over-the-counter post trade service provider, has completed its first compression cycle with Eurex Clearing members for euro-denominated interest rate swaps.

Rexel, the French distributor of electrical supplies, on Wednesday sold €650m of unsecured notes on a day when investment grade buyers moved into the high yield market.

Wendel, the French investment company, made a bold move on Tuesday night to reduce its stake in Saint-Gobain, the glass and building materials group that is one of its main holdings.

Barclays has this evening executed a R13bn ($900m) accelerated bookbuild in shares of Barclays Africa Group, its separately listed South African subsidiary, as the first stage in its already announced plan to divest the bank. The trade was covered in 35 minutes and multiple times oversubscribed.

Italy has sold a 30 year private placement with a coupon linked to the European consumer price index. Market participants are speculating that the deal indicates confidence that inflation may begin to rise.

Agence France Locale (AFL), awarded a mandate on Wednesday for a benchmark bond as bankers said that regardless of the tough backdrop in equities the SSA market remains in rude health.

Spanish car parts maker Gestamp on Wednesday priced a €500m secured bond to redeem all of its old euro notes at first call.

Rentenbank printed a May 2021 sterling deal on Wednesday as bankers said that receding fears over the possibility of a British exit from the European Union were driving confidence in sterling.