Europe

The US Federal Reserve will publish the results of its latest bank stress tests this week, after updating the exercise to include three new scenarios related to Covid-19. The new scenarios could have a bearing on dividend policy, but capital requirements will still be based on the pre-pandemic stress test model.

The European Banking Authority will carry on guiding banks to apply favourable treatment to loans covered by payment holidays, though it recognises that liquidity issues facing companies during the Covid-19 pandemic could soon turn into solvency issues.

The owners of SoftwareOne, the Swiss software company that went public in October last year, have taken advantage of the rally of the share price in recent weeks to sell Sfr382.5m of stock, via an accelerated bookbuild.

German billionaire Heinz-Herman Thiele, one of the country’s richest men, sold a €728m stake in German break manufacturer Knorr-Bremse to fund other investments. Since Covid-19 he has built up a substantial position in German airline Lufthansa and is now the company's largest shareholder.

Investors appeared to be more sensitive of price movements in new issues of covered bonds this week, with valuations in the asset class having returned to within touching distance of their January levels.

The IPO of PharmaSGP, the German manufacture of natural drugs and medicines, was a smaller affair than had been originally envisaged by the sellers, after the return of equity market volatility meant that the deal had to be priced at the bottom of the range.

The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favour of a series of temporary amendments to the Capital Requirements Regulation. The changes will offer banks capital relief during the coronavirus pandemic, including via a prudential filter for government bond exposures.

Robert Bosch has joined a rare club to issue €2bn-plus in a single Schuldschein. The A+ rated German car parts supplier re-opened the market with an initial target of €500m. Bankers say the final result is an illustration of the depth of the market for well-rated corporates.

Steven van Rijswijk has been appointed the new chief executive of ING, after Ralph Hamers decided to join UBS. Van Rijswijk has worked his way up at ING, having worked in a number of roles in the investment bank.

Lenders to Wirecard, the embattled German payments company, will have to decide whether to call in its €1.75bn syndicated loan, after its auditor EY refused to sign off its 2019 accounts, which the company announced on Thursday, sending its share price into a spiral. Markus Braun, the company's CEO, resigned on Friday.

Members of the European Parliament and representatives of member states hope to clear the last hurdles for an agreement on a draft regulation on recovery and resolution of central counterparty clearing houses (CCPs) by the end of this month.

Region Stockholm brought social impact bonds into the mainstream European capital markets this week, with a transaction aimed at preventing people from developing diabetes. With healthcare financing top of the agenda in capital markets because of Covid-19, the deal raises the prospect that other issuers could turn to outcome-based financing. Frank Jackman and Jon Hay report.