Europe

The SSA bond market is playing host to three SRI labelled deals in euros this week, with no conventional debt slated for issuance at all so far.

The European Commission rounded off its pre-summer funding with a dual tranche outing this week. Despite the huge size raised, the execution was remarkably smooth, as is becoming a signature for the EU. But while the EU’s credentials as one of the top SSA issuers are beyond doubt, questions remain as to whether it is a supranational, or a quasi-sovereign issuer of eurozone safe assets.

Metropolitano de Tenerife, the public transport company that operates the Tenerife tram system, made its bond market debut on Tuesday, raising €130m with a 15 year green bond.

UBS opened the European bank earnings season on Tuesday with a strong set of results from its M&A and capital markets businesses, which CEO Ralph Hamers seized as an opportunity to play up the importance of talented bankers over the generous application of balance sheet.

Taylor Maritime Investments, the investment trust focused on the international shipping industry, announced an equity capital raising on Monday, just under two months after pricing its $253.7m IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

Europe’s new generation of special purpose acquisition companies (Spacs) are starting to make deals to combine with unlisted companies, testing the region’s nascent market.

The Prudential Regulation Authority gave more detail on the likely direction of reforms to the risk margin and the matching adjustment on Tuesday, as it launched a quantitative impact study for the review of Solvency II in the UK.

Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of busiess on Monday, July 19. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services

Charlotte Weir is leaving Barclays after more than 20 years with the firm, most recently as head of corporate debt capital markets in EMEA, for a job at another bank in London.

The spread outlook for covered bonds is likely to remain positive over the summer period, said traders, even though yields are negative. The main risks to that prognosis are likely to emanate from the possible course of inflation.

Equity markets were reeling this week as investors became more defensive in the face of rising Covid-19 cases across the world. Sources say that despite some countries, such as the UK, lifting Covid-19 restrictions, equity capital markets investors are bedding in for the pandemic to drag on.

Raben Group, the Dutch-Polish logistics firm, closed its first sustainability-linked syndicated loan for €225m on Friday.