Europe

The UK government has backed calls for a link between executive pay and gender balance in financial services, following an industry review by Jayne-Anne Gadhia, Virgin Money chief executive. However, banks will set their own targets under the scheme.

Van Lanschot Bankiers managed a smooth execution for its second ever covered bond deal on Tuesday, a transaction that was at risk of being postponed after attacks in Brussels.

Australia and New Zealand Bank announced on Tuesday that it would cut 12 jobs in the markets division to simplify its business and focus on cost management.

ABN Amro is set to launch its second Basel III tier two trade in as many weeks and this time is opting for a Singapore dollar-denominated transaction.

Two block trades have been launched in Europe this evening (Monday March 21), in shares of Iren, the Italian multi-utility group, and IMCD, the Dutch speciality chemicals distribution company. While IMCD has been the subject of three previous block trades, there have been none in Iren, according to Dealogic.

The private equity owners of German wind turbine maker Senvion have grudgingly relaunched its Frankfurt IPO, just five days after pulling it on low demand. The new deal is half the size of the earlier one, and implies a valuation €300m lower.

Unédic and the European Stability Mechanism are set to price euro deals this week, taking advantage of a window before the start of the Easter holidays later this week.

HeidelbergCement issued a benchmark high yield bond on Monday that was increased to €1bn and nearly three times oversubscribed.

Humana AB, the Swedish company that provides care for the elderly, disabled and mentally ill, is set to begin trading on Nasdaq Stockholm on Tuesday morning, after completing a successful IPO of about Skr832m ($100m).

Lundin Petroleum, the Swedish oil and gas exploration company, has increased the size of its reserve-based bank facility and signed a short-term credit facility agreement to protect itself from further oil price volatility.

Russian B&N Bank has released price guidance for a $150m-$200m loan participation notes and is targeting Asian investors with the deal, according to a source at the issuer.

Holding Slovenske elektrarne (HSE), the largest power generation firm in Slovenia, has pulled its bond — a sign that European high yield is still cautious, despite increased bond sales in March.