Europe

Banks may be using their lending relationships with companies to press them into granting bond mandates, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions has warned. This follows the UK Financial Conduct Authority's remarks about similar pressure for equity mandates in April.

AIB Group's new euro tier two capital issue, its first green bond, was comfortably subscribed on Wednesday, lifting confidence in the bank debt market after a difficult start to the week.

Shares in Knaus Tabbert, the German maker of caravans and motor homes, were almost flat in trading on Wednesday following the company’s €232m IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The deal was the first of two German IPOs this week.

Skipton Building Society is looking to sell its first series of non-preferred senior notes in sterling — a market that has proved shaky amid a fresh spike in Brexit volatility.

Iccrea Banca told the euro bond market on Wednesday that it was not looking to issue its debut senior deal until next week, giving investors more time to prepare for the transaction.

China Yangtze Power Co has won approval from the Mainland regulator to push ahead with its IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

The European Central Bank is reportedly considering imbuing its regular Asset Purchase Programme with the powers reserved for its special Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme. From the central bank's perspective it’s a tempting move, but it could tip the eurozone into full blown yield curve control and would certainly draw the ire and no doubt legal challenges from some in Germany.

Barings is partnering up with Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, to provide $3.5bn of direct lending to mid-market companies in Europe.

Allegro, the Polish e-commerce company, covered its Warsaw IPO throughout its range on the first day of bookbuilding on Tuesday as investors rushed into the book. It will be one of the largest IPOs of the year at about $2bn.

Goldman Sachs has given new titles to leaders in its credit finance, investment grade capital markets and equity capital markets businesses.

London's investment bankers are getting to grips once more with the UK government's guidance on coronavirus, after it said on Tuesday that office workers should work from home, if possible. Banks had slowly been inviting more staff back into London offices in recent months while the government had also been urging people to get back to the office.

The European Union has passed the penultimate hurdle delaying its €100bn Support to mitigate Unemployment Risk in an Emergency (SURE) programme, all but clearing the way for issuance to begin. But one country’s request for funds has not yet been granted.