Europe

Schuldschein arranging banks have long claimed to be the market's gatekeepers as far as borrowers looking for access are concerned, rejecting lower quality credits to keep the standard high. As the market expanded in recent years and a richer variety of companies borrowed from it, this became a less convincing claim. But as the coronavirus pandemic rocks Europe, Schuldschein bankers say they have declined several requests from companies from risky sectors.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, one of the world's largest owners of shopping malls, launched a €9bn-plus turnaround plan on Thursday, which includes a €3.5bn rights issue. The aim of is to reduce its leverage to help it withstand the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Dutch State Treasury Agency has revised down its 2020 borrowing programme as a result of a better improvement than expected in its cash deficit.

Sweden's financial supervisor has extended its application of a risk weight floor on domestic mortgages, a measure that will help to protect senior debt by forcing banks to run with higher capital positions.

The European Central Bank said on Thursday that the economy was in a poor enough state to justify letting banks take advantage of a recent agreement on leverage ratio relief.

Hamburg Commercial Bank is getting ready to issue a new tier two capital bond with an unusual five year tenor, as part of its efforts to reconnect with investors following its privatisation in 2018.

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a surge in the issuance of social-labelled debt and sovereigns could be the next set of issuers to join this fast growing asset class, according to panellists at the 2020 GlobalCapital Sustainable and Responsible Capital Markets Virtual Forum on Wednesday.

The burgeoning €30bn market for sustainable covered bond financing received another boost last week after the European Covered Bond Council formally adopted environmental, social and governance (ESG) transparency enhancements to its Harmonised Transparency Template (HTT) that go well beyond what issuers currently disclose and should improve investors’ ability to compare deals.

An accounting practice called badwill is central to debates about European bank M&A — but it probably should not be, as it leads to some confusing rhetoric.

Sovereign green bonds are becoming almost commonplace in Europe, but not all are convinced. Slovakia has no intention to enter the market, saying it is a costly exercise that “would not help anyone”.

Sir Martin Franklin, one of the founders of Jarden Corp, is seeking to list a new special purpose acquisition company on the London Stock Exchange, with a target deal size of $750m.

Cyrus Ardalan, chair of the board of directors at the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm), discussed whether others could follow his organisation's model to finance solutions to social challenges at the GlobalCapital Sustainable and Responsible Capital Markets Virtual Forum 2020 on Wednesday.