Europe

Royal Bank of Scotland has become the first European bank to issue subordinated debt in more than two months. It took advantage of strong demand in the sterling market this week, with investors confident that the UK lender will be well placed to withstand the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Nordea Bank and Erste Group Bank were marketing preferred senior bonds on Wednesday, finding demand in the seven year part of the curve following a flurry of five year deals earlier this week.

When revealing its first quarter results on Wednesday, UniCredit said it would be updating its freshly launched Team 23 plan in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, which has dented profitability.

Citigroup is determined to emerge as a winner from the Covid-19 crisis and conquer the summit of global investment banking, in the face of any pull to concentrate more on home markets, writes David Rothnie.

Hiscox, the London-listed insurance and reinsurance company, has raised £375m through a sale of 57.6m new shares. Sources said that a strong showing by the management team persuaded them to back the share offering during challenging times for the company as it faces the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

SBAB Bank found plenty of room to tighten the pricing on a new preferred senior deal in euros on Wednesday, after investors welcomed the trade’s green credentials.

US insurance companies that buy private placements are concerned the damaging effects of coronavirus on corporate earnings may prompt a flood of credit downgrades by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the regulatory body which imposes upon them risk-based capital charges.

Martin McKinney, senior manager of medium-term funding at Santander UK, speaks to GlobalCapital about the impact the UK’s lockdown on the bank’s balance sheet, central bank liquidity, and the bank’s changing mix of regulatory and pure funding.

Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (BVG) touched off a legal bombshell on Tuesday morning. It left the ECB in an impossible position: it can accept the court's verdict or ignore it, but either decision will undermine its efforts to stabilise Europe's capital markets.

Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, Finland has found a novel way to meet its increased funding needs: private placements. Over the last six weeks, the sovereign has supplemented its regular auctions with €5.65bn of privately placed trades, issuing private debt off its benchmark bond programme for the first time ever.

Instituto de Crédito Oficial (Ico) is holding a series of investor calls to introduce its updated social bond framework ahead of a transaction which will be specifically used to target the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Germany has picked the banks that will run its first syndicated transaction since 2015 and its first 15 year bond. The sovereign will likely make its market return on Wednesday. The trade forms part of Germany's updated strategy for its colossal funding programme financing the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.