Europe

JP Morgan is opening up its front office investment banking desks to school leavers on its apprentice programme.

The German Ministry of Finance has requested feedback on a draft amendment to the Pfandbrief Act that seeks to bring the country’s laws into line with the EU covered bond directive. The most contentious aspect is the inclusion of a soft bullet maturity.

Sweden hit the dollar market on Tuesday, raising $2.5bn with a two year benchmark in what is likely to be the week’s only SSA dollar supply.

The euro SSA market caught fire this week, with a slew of impressive deals hitting screens on Tuesday, all ending up well oversubscribed. Investors seem to be taking every opportunity to soak up SSA paper before the arrival of the delayed EU funding programme.

Sovcomflot, the state-owned Russian shipping company, will price its IPO at Rb105 a share, the bottom of it range.

Ukraine priced a $2bn 12 year bond on July 1, tightening pricing to 7.3% yield that was inside the expectations of many market participants as the country passed a major test of international investor acceptance with flying colours.

Hungary wasted little time in turning this year’s increased external funding needs into an opportunity to expand its green bond plans. Yet though sustainability is quickly climbing the list of priorities in Central and Eastern Europe, not all countries are likely to hop on the green bond wagon

US private placement market insiders fear a round of early prepayments, as companies look to wriggle out of the straightjackets of financial covenants and issue public market bonds instead. Amendments brokered at the start of the coronavirus pandemic are up for review now, and sources think these talks will involve tough conversations between borrowers and lenders.

Central and Eastern Europe had never been better prepared for a crisis than when Covid-19 hit, and the region’s governments faced few obstacles in ramping up external bond issuance this year. But there is uncertainty regarding what EU funding will mean for CEE volumes

Though China has increased co-operation with Central and Eastern European nations in recent years, provoking some concern in the EU, investment volumes remain muted. Non-EU nations in the Balkans, however, offer a chance to progress on the Belt & Road initiative

Multi-field cooperation and integration

Florin Cîțu, Romania’s finance minister, is in defiant mood as he speaks to GlobalMarkets from the campaign trail ahead of a busy election cycle. The previous day, September 22, parliament had voted to amend the budget to increase pensions by 40% — instead of the 14% increase that the National Liberal Party (PNL)-led government, which has a minority in parliament, had implemented.