Europe

Vincenzo de Falco has joined Credit Suisse as a member of a recently formed function that seeks to serve privately-owned companies and high-net-worth clients with investment banking products.

Shard Capital, the London-based brokerage, is expanding into equity capital markets by hiring an entire team from Mirabaud Securities.

The European Investment Bank became the first borrower to tap the sterling market in 2021 on Monday, while KfW is set to follow on Tuesday. While the opening deal went well, the issuers had to contend with some sharp volatility.

Public sector borrowers wasted no time in getting back to business in the euro market in 2021 with one live deal and four mandates all hitting screens on Monday as issuers look to take advantage of an almost full trading week and a supportive market to make a dent in their brand new funding programmes.

The US private placement market rarely gets going until after its main conference in Miami in January, typically restricting deal flow to February. Restrictions on travel mean the event is on ice until September, offering a rare opportunity for early movers. But many in the market still do not see a strong pipeline of deals.

Ex-UBS banker Leonardo Doser has joined Deutsche Bank as head of markets distribution for Switzerland.

Equity markets opened on a high on the first day of trading in 2021 and there are hopes that positive macro headwinds will provide strong momentum for equity capital markets deals. This is despite the Covid-19 pandemic still causing concern as cases rise and governments introduce tough restrictions to fight it.

Rising equity markets, new lockdowns and a pick-up in M&A are expected to lead to a busy first quarter for convertible bond issuance in Europe, according to bankers.

Aareal Bank mandated leads on Monday for the first new covered bond of 2021. At the same time, market participants have low issuance expectations for the next few days. Even though supply may improve next week, January volumes are expected to be lower than in previous years.

A senior equity capital markets banker has left Barclays after more than a decade at the UK bank.

Covered bond issuance from Europe’s peripheral regions is likely to be anaemic in 2021, as issuers will continue to rely heavily on far cheaper central bank funding. Covered bond spreads are very tight, but the cost of senior unsecured bonds has come down faster, and deposits have grown.

The European Central Bank’s gross covered bond purchases sustained strong momentum in November which, in conjunction with wavering supply and high redemptions, caused real investors to be squeezed out — a theme that is bound to continue in 2021.