Europe

Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager, made a smart stockmarket debut on Thursday, rising 3.6% in a falling market, after completing its €1.5bn IPO the previous day.

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BBVA issued a €1.25bn five year covered bond on Tuesday that attracted an order book unequaled in size in the Cédulas market since July.

Rumours that the European Central Bank will add German regions to its public sector purchase programme fuelled demand for a State of Hessen benchmark on Thursday, said bankers.

Vodafone has attracted a €2.5bn order book for a €750m five year bond, its first since negotiations over an asset swap with Liberty Global fell through.

The Romanian mortgage market is set for growth after local authorities amended its previously unusable covered bond law to bring it into line with the best standards in western Europe.

Goldman Sachs this week announced the closure of its dedicated BRIC (Brazil, Russia, China and India) fund after nearly 10 years. The move signalled the end of the BRIC era, as this year saw recessions plague Russia and Brazil while growth in China stalled.

Continental Rubber of America, a wholly owned subsidiary of Germany's Continental, issued a €500m no-grow bond on Thursday, returning to the bond market after a two year gap.

Two issuers made opportunistic moves in sterling on Tuesday with one offering investors a rare 2020 and the other a tap.

There were strong signs on Thursday that investors are betting heavily on further monetary policy easing by the European Central Bank, as Italy sold debt at a record low yield.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the Belgian-Brazilian brewer, mandated a group of 21 banks to provide its $75bn loan facility, but there was no coordinator as AB InBev took an active role in arranging the transaction.