Europe

Alfa Bank, Russia’s largest privately owned bank by assets, loan portfolio and equity, is seeking to sell an international rouble bond. It last entered international markets in April, selling a dollar bond.

GlobalCapital is thrilled to announce that the survey for this year’s awards is now open. All market participants are invited to take part.

Round Hill Music Royalty Fund, the London-listed investment trust focused on music catalogues, has wrapped up an $86.5m share sale, as the asset class continues to draw in investors.

Learning Technologies Group (LTG), the e-learning and training provider, has completed a 44.3m share sale to part fund its acquisition of GP Strategies.

Large US banks are expected to turn their attention to the euro market next week, having raised $21.75bn of debt in their home currency after reporting their latest results.

As Western companies operating in Hong Kong await the details of a warning from the US State Department about the risks of doing business in the special administrative region, analysts say the growing rift between China and the US is putting HSBC in an especially uncomfortable position.

NatWest Markets has hired UK rates trader James Bucknall from Deutsche Bank, where he was head of sterling trading.

Only four member states have transposed the EU’s Covered Bond Directive into national law on time. As seven are nearly there, the other 16 members will have to work hard to meet the July 2022 deadline for implementation, after which the European Commission could activate infringement procedures.

Limited partners in private credit take a hands-off approach when investing in direct lending funds. But they need to pay attention.

Direct lending funds are known for protecting their investments with leverage covenants, but the investors in these funds — known as limited partners (LPs) — may be overestimating how much protection they give, market sources warned this week. Silas Brown reports.

Oldenburgische Landesbank (OLB) launched a €100m of additional tier one (AT1) capital on Thursday, with new issuance in the asset class remaining skewed towards sub-benchmark transactions.

Equity investors may finally, after months of being deluged with new listings, be about to get a break in August from the relentless deal activity that has defined the year. But they will come back in September to a market so busy that bankers believe bringing a deal then will be impossible for any companies that have not already committed to doing so, writes Sam Kerr.