Europe

Soitec is seeking to raise €130m-€180m through two successive capital increases, it said on Wednesday.

Scandinavian Tobacco, the cigar and pipe tobacco maker, rose 2% when it made its stock market debut on Wednesday, before returning to the level at which its IPO was priced.

Vinod Vasan, who resigned from Deutsche Bank on Wednesday morning, will be returning to UBS.

Bpifrance Financement sold a five year €500m bond on Wednesday as a moderate rise in Bund yields suggested calm after a turbulent open to the week.

Rich Ricci, the former chief executive of Barclays investment bank, has joined freemarketFX, a startup FX business, as chairman.

Issuance slowed in the sovereign, supranational and agency bond market this week thanks to Chinese New Year and the anticipation of US Federal Reserve chairperson, Janet Yellen's testimony to US Congress.

Deutsche Bank's global head of FIG origination has left the bank to head to another firm.

Countryside Properties has received enough demand from investors to complete its IPO. The UK house and flat developer is counting on strong interest from UK long-only funds to weather difficult market conditions.

Ascential priced its initial public offering on Tuesday, for a deal size of £279.9m. After a rocky first day on the London Stock Exchange, the information and events business finished the day with its shares trading at the exact level at which they had been priced.

UniCredit released its fourth quarter results on Tuesday, but these did little to reassure stakeholders, who have already seen the bank’s share price fall this year to its lowest level since 2012. However, while the bank as a whole took a hit, its corporate and investment banking division (CIB) grew year on year.

Europe’s banks, with a few notable exceptions, have yet to be hit hard with claims of unethical dealing. But that is likely to change. Thanks to a quirk of the European regulatory system, supervisors need to find some misselling before it is too late.

UBS has priced its first Swiss franc-denominated senior bond issued out of the holding company on Monday.