Europe

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has substantially increased its covered bond issuance limit which had stood at 4% of assets on an issuer’s balance sheet. This, along with very strong market conditions, should help to induce the country’s borrowers, which have not printed in euros for more than two years, to make an appearance before the year is out.

Bank of America has appointed Fernando Vicario as chief executive of its EU bank, replacing Bruce Thompson, who worked to establish the new entity ahead of Brexit. It has also given new roles to Richard King and Simeon Stevens.

Aareal Bank issued a short six year Pfandbrief on Wednesday at a deeply negative yield and with a negative concession. Investor demand was impressive, illustrating that Pfandbriefe, twinned with Aareal’s loan origination standards, were sufficient to offset any concern over the hotel and retail exposures in its collateral pool. At the same time DZ Hyp has mandated leads for an eight year Pfandbrief.

Ülker Bisküvi Sanayi, a Turkish biscuit manufacturer, is set to come to market for a benchmark bond on Thursday, attempting to print a deal in a market that the country’s sovereign wealth fund deemed too hostile to make its debut in.

Scatec Solar, the Norwegian solar energy company, raised Nkr4.75bn ($512m) through an equity placing on Tuesday night. The sale was for 15% of the company’s share capital — 5% more than it was allowed to issue through a non-preemptive placing. It made up the balance by borrowing shares from its largest shareholder.

Metro Bank said on Wednesday that it had slipped below its loss-absorbing capacity targets. But before it commits to issuing more senior debt, it is waiting for the Bank of England to complete a review of the minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL).

Link Mobility, the Norwegian provider of business to consumer messaging and mobile services, has begun trading on the Oslo Børs following the completion of its Nkr6bn ($650m) IPO.

The Bank of England said this week that it would loosen some of the rules around the maximum distributable amount for UK banks after Brexit, making it harder for them to trigger restrictions on their additional tier one (AT1) coupons and equity dividends.

Much of European rule making in wider society has been about preventing infection spreading to the elderly of late. But the European Banking Authority has instead weighed in on the "infection risk" that stems from grandfathered securities.

A proposed change to the Pfandbrief law introducing a soft bullet maturity is designed to harmonise Germany’s covered bond regime with the rest of Europe’s, as envisaged under the EU’s Covered Bond Directive. However, it could highlight the vast differences in how soft bullet covered bonds are repaid following extension triggers.

The Kingdom of Denmark made a rare appearance in dollars on Tuesday, printing $2bn in its first outing outside its domestic market in six years. Its success in the currency has emboldened the World Bank to follow suit.

The European Central Bank said this week that it thought a stronger role for countercyclical capital buffers would be key in making sure that banks use their available resources to boost lending in times of crisis.