Europe
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Austria is looking into issuing green bonds, joining a growing list of European sovereigns that have already issued bonds in the format or laid out plans to do so in the near future. -
The UK Debt Management Office has appointed two banks as structuring advisers for the sale of its inaugural green Gilt, due to be issued this year.
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Swedish bankers have argued that proposed amendments to the country's covered bond law, which bring it into line with the EU's Covered Bond Directive (CBD), must demand that liquidity buffers in soft bullet bonds cover interest payments during any 12 month extension period, as opposed to covering interest and principal for 180 days — a standard more commonly seen in hard bullet maturities.
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FIG rainmaker Andrea Orcel is stepping back into the limelight as UniCredit chief executive, just as momentum is building for large-scale banking consolidation. He has an array of M&A options, but will he be shy in pulling the trigger? David Rothnie reports.
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A pair of sovereign borrowers hit the crowded euro bond market on Wednesday, pulling down a combined €7bn. Public sector issuance is showing no signs of slowing: Wednesday’s borrowers received huge orders.
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Smurfit Kappa, the Irish paper and cardboard packaging company, has signed its first sustainability-linked loan for €1.35bn, at the same time as setting new targets to reduce its carbon footprint and water use and employ more women.
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Sponsored Société GénéraleAt this year’s Central & Eastern European Forum, Société Générale hosted the workshop titled ‘CEE central banks’ balance sheet expansion: a necessity or a risk?’. The speakers were Radoslaw Cholewinski (deputy head of fixed income at Pekao TFI), Martin Dolejs (portfolio manager, pension fund and insurance portfolios at Allianz), and Zoltan Aroksallasi (FX and rate strategist at Erste Bank), and I thank them for their insight, their knowledge, and their time. By Marek Drimal, EMEA Strategist, moderator of the workshop.
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Anglo-German travel and tourism group TUI has completed its heavily discounted €544m rights issue, which is part of a bailout of the company.
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Covered bond spreads are so tight that asset managers with strict mandates to invest only in this asset class, such as Union Investment in Germany, have limited room to extract relative value and post a better performance than the main indices. And unlike last year, when falling interest rates boosted absolute returns, the rates outlook is less certain.
