Europe

Although the MTN market contracted during the first half of 2020, structured issuance rose. The bulk of the increase came in the form of notes with calls added to enhance yield.

Housing 21 became the latest UK housing association to receive a strong reception from investors on Friday as it priced a long-dated sterling tap with a book almost three times covered and a negligible new issue concession.

Fitch Ratings has hired Matt Palmer as a senior director in its London office to develop its ratings business in investment grade debt markets.

Six months after joining JP Morgan, William Vereker has been named as the next non-executive chair of Santander UK.

Aim-listed oil and gas producer i3 Energy has announced a £30m fundraising to finance its reverse takeover of Canadian firm Gain Energy’s petroleum and infrastructure assets.

This week in Keeping Tabs: confronting dollar bears, Lebanon’s crisis, the power of debt in Ireland, and funding equity research.

Overcollateralisation (OC) levels have increased on covered bond pools since last year for European issuers, Fitch Ratings said this week. But while issuers in some countries, like the UK, showed a rise above the average, borrowers that have participated in central bank funding, like those in Germany, have managed to keep OC levels down.

A tumultuous week in Turkish currency markets ended with the lira hitting new lows against the dollar and the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey finally taking action to try and calm volatility. Amid such swings, a sovereign bond issue looks unlikely.

Investors have been more than happy to buy into new additional tier ones (AT1s) this year, with a rise in spreads having minimised the risk that deals could be extended beyond their first call dates.

Akbank, one of Turkey’s largest financial institutions, has raised a green bond, the first of its kind from the country since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

BMW Finance, a subsidiary of German carmaker BMW, sealed a Rmb500m ($72m) three year dim sum bond on Thursday. It was the first publicly sold offshore renminbi trade by a corporation since November last year.

Financial authorities face a tough call on how and when to exit from the exceptional regulatory relief measures they put in place to shelter borrowers from the worst impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).