Europe

The EU recovery fund has hit a major obstacle in its journey to capital markets. Hungary and Poland have vetoed the "own resources decision", which would allow the EU to access the bond market on its own account.

Hamburg Airport has launched a Schuldschein deal, following Munich Airport’s entry into the market in early October.

Schneider Electric, the French electrical systems company, has issued what many in the market are calling Europe's first true sustainability-linked convertible bond, in which the issuer agrees to pay investors more if it fails to meet pre-agreed environmental, social and governance targets.

Stadshypotek on Tuesday became the first Swedish bank to issue a euro benchmark covered bond this year, with its first euro deal secured on Norwegian mortgages. The bond was priced at the tightest spread for any covered bond issued outside the eurozone since May 2019.

Alstom, the French manufacturer of trains, trams and buses, has embarked upon its long-awaited rights issue with a fair wind behind it after the recent progress towards a Covid-19 vaccine.

Sistema, the Russian diversified holding company, has raised a sustainability-linked credit line through the country's largest lender, Sberbank. Though there has been an increase in sustainability-linked financing in Russia, this deal marks the first ESG-linked loan between a domestic corporate and borrower.

Deutsche Bank and HSBC Holdings were targeting the dollar market with new loss-absorbing senior deals on Tuesday, having each raised debt in euros earlier this month.

Shaftesbury, the UK landlord that owns a large number of properties in London’s West End, has concluded a £307m recapitalisation, which saw a high take-up from its shareholders.

Hedge funds have started to take a keen interest in the Schuldschein market, but restructuring laws in Germany set to come into effect in January will stop them before they truly get started.

Finland’s Oma Saving’s Bank has mandated leads for a covered bond and follows OP Mortgage Bank which last week issued the first Finnish covered bond since January.

The Swiss Banking Association has asked the country’s financial supervisor to consider setting up a covered bond regulatory framework that would put structured covered bonds on a par with other legally based covered bonds, such as Swiss Pfandbriefe.

Mediobanca was swamped with orders for a small tier two on Monday, as investors welcomed a rare opportunity to gain subordinated exposure to the Italian bank. Its deal was further supported by another positive development in the race to roll out a vaccine for Covid-19.