Europe

TD Securities has hired a senior debt capital markets syndicate banker from SMBC Nikko Capital Markets in London, to handle new issues from corporate and financial issuers.

A slew of SSA issuers hit screens on Monday to announce dollar benchmarks. Despite the crowded market, dollar deals — particularly at the short end of the curve — are expected to be well received.

The IPO of Suse, the German open source software company, was in high demand as it closed the order books on its Frankfurt listing.

Hedosophia European Growth, a new special purpose acquisition company sponsored by UK investor Ian Osborne, has listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, raising €400m.

The IPO of Trifork, the Danish software company, on Nasdaq Copenhagen is oversubscribed on the full deal size, according to a source close to the deal.

PKN Orlen, the Polish oil refiner and petrol retailer, began marketing its debut green bond on Monday, a €500m no-grow seven year. Issuing a green bond would be a bold move for an oil company, but PKN Orlen is being conservative about the assets included and has obtained certification from the Climate Bonds Initiative.

The SSA bond market in euros weakened considerably over the last week and borrowers and bankers alike are eyeing the upcoming EU benchmark issuance with trepidation.

United Overseas Bank and Raiffeisen-Landesbank Steiermark (RFLBST) have mandated leads for covered bond deals amid a weakening spread environment.

A deal-hungry retail investor base provided crucial support for a strong first few months of the year in Russian equity capital markets, and sources in Moscow are hopeful that the momentum will carry on through 2021 as the political noise that threatened to derail the market subsides.

Île-de-France Mobilités, the state-owned authority for public transport in the Île-de-France region, is set to make its first trip to the green bond market. The borrower intends to use green bonds for around 60% of its financing needs until the end of 2025.

Two recent studies have added to the growing body of research that points to a surge in green covered bond issuance following the implementation of the EU's Taxonomy of Sustainable Activities.

Hogan Lovells is looking to build a Belgian banking and capital markets practice around a group of five lawyers who were previously at PwC Legal.