Europe

The European Union has sent banks a request for proposals (RFP) for what is expected to the final Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) transaction of the second quarter.

Aegon Bank has registered its soft bullet covered bond programme with the Dutch central bank and has published its base prospectus, suggesting it could be ready to mandate leads after posting results this week. Aegon follows NN Bank, which became the first Dutch bank to switch away from using conditional pass through (CPT) covered bonds, with Achmea Bank set to follow.

Nordea made a rare entry into the euro tier two market on Monday, taking advantage of strong issuance conditions to steer its pricing in close to fair value.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s New Zealand subsidiary, ASB Finance, has mandated leads for the first Kiwi covered bond since January 2019. At the same time, Berlin Hyp has appointed lead managers for a 12 year mortgage Pfandbrief.

BNP Paribas has made two senior hires in European equity capital markets as part of its ambitious challenge to top the region’s league table positions.

Aquila Capital, the German investment company focused on sustainable investments, is launching a new London-listed fund focused on energy efficiency assets in Europe.

Crédit Agricole has promoted four staffers to fill vacant and newly created positions in its debt capital markets leadership team, including global head of financial institutions DCM and head of European corporate DCM.

Belgium dropped into the long end of the euro curve to place a 100 year bond this week – its first private placement for seven months.

Allen & Overy has hired two leveraged finance partners from rival Linklaters in London.

UBS has revamped its management of sustainability and appointed Michael Baldinger as chief sustainability officer. Last month it named Suni Harford, president of UBS Asset Management, as group executive board sponsor for sustainability and impact.

The Warsaw IPO of Canal+ Polska, the Polish satellite TV network, has been postponed. The deal is the latest victim of Europe's binary IPO market.

French steel parts and distribution company Jacquet Metal Service has launched a further Schuldschein, according to sources. The market is gearing up for somewhat of a renaissance after a moribund 2020 and GlobalCapital understands that 10-15 more transactions are set to be launched in May.