Europe

Freeline Therapeutics, the UK gene therapeutics company, has set a pricing range for its Nasdaq listing, becoming the latest company from the red hot biotech sector to raise equity capital.

The State of Brandenburg will keep the primary euro public sector bond market ticking on Tuesday after mandating banks for a new 20 year bond for which it hopes to achieve a better outcome than Berlin's deal at the tenor last week.

HSBC revealed a big increase in credit loss provisions in its second quarter results on Monday, as it vowed to step up the pace of its strategy shift. In the investment bank, it was a strong outing for fixed income and currencies trading, but a disappointing quarter for equities.

The Vanguard Group, the US asset manager which pioneered low cost, index-tracking investment, has sold $3bn worth of private placements. According to GlobalCapital data, this deal is the largest ever recorded in the US private placement market.

The European Commission’s proposed amendment to the Liquidity Coverage Ratio Delegated Act suggests covered bonds, such as those issued by NordLB Luxembourg and others, could be excluded, which could extinguish banks’ demand for them. However, it is likely that a solution referencing the covered bond directive will be found.

Equity capital markets bankers are preparing for a busy autumn of rights issues as companies prepare to weather a long period of Covid-19 disruption. Because of the uncertainty over the the length and severity of the pandemic, businesses are said to be looking at larger capital raises than before.

The Bank of England will open a new consultation on the way the leverage ratio works in the UK after it has finished reviewing the framework through its committees.

CEEMEA bond bankers are pinning their hopes on the EU's €750bn recovery fund to spark green issuance once again. The market has been moribund since Covid-19 drew issuers' attentions elsewhere, with a debut deal from Georgia Global Utilities (GGU) — a portfolio company of London-listed Georgia Capital — one of very few recent highlights.

FIG deal arrangers predict the dollar market could come alive again in early August, as European banks exit earnings blackouts and weigh up their funding options.

Société Générale will make its structured products less risky, it said, after a difficult first half of the year in its equities business.

The UK Debt Management Office has chosen the maturities and issuance windows for its two planned syndications in September. One of the syndications will be a new 15 year Gilt, which divided opinion among investors at a consultation last week.

The airline sector has become one of the biggest “deep recovery” trades in the equity capital markets following a wave of issuance in recent months.