Europe

The ECB has, despite an early gaffe, decided that it is its job to close spreads after all — and for the most part, it is excelling in its task. But its attention is focused on the bond market and, as a result, those who rely on the money markets for short term funding are suffering.

Currency markets helped revenues in HSBC’s global banking and markets division in the first quarter. But along with the rest of the group, it had to take big losses for credit exposures thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

Supermarket Income Reit, the UK real estate investment trust focused on grocery stores, has attracted strong demand for its latest capital raising to fund new investment opportunities that may arise from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The European Investment Bank achieved its biggest ever order book in euros on Tuesday, as it sold its first seven year benchmark of the year.

From Italian government bonds to fallen angels, nothing is junk unless the European Central Bank says so.

More UK councils are considering selling private placements, according to several sources familiar with the situation, as their funding needs escalate thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Institutional investors, some of which are sceptical of local authorities’ suitability for the US PP market, say they are more likely to consider lending to borrowers rich in assets.

The Financial Conduct Authority has written to UK banks warning them against pressuring clients for mandates on Covid-19 equity capital raises using their lending relationship as justification.

Crédit Mutuel Arkéa paid a 'generous' 7bp of new issue premium for a preferred senior bond on Tuesday, taking advantage of a quiet market to attract attention from investors.

The European Commission’s ideas for a “Union Recovery Programme”, based on an internal note seen by GlobalCapital, are “worrying” based on the limited size and possible conditionality attached to the measures, according to two economists.

UBS generated almost as much profit before tax from its global banking and markets operations in the first quarter as it did across all of last year, it revealed on Tuesday. This was despite taking credit losses and marking down exposures. The bank benefitted from a good turnout in FX and rates and its heavy involvement in a shrunken M&A fee pool.

Caisse Française de Financement Local (Caffil) has launched the first negative yielding covered bond since the onset of the coronavirus crisis in Europe, after linking the use of proceeds from the deal to fighting against the effects of the pandemic.

SIX Group, the owner of the Swiss stock exchange, was in the market on Monday night with a sale of shares in French payments company Worldline. Investors poured into the deal demonstrating their appetite for high quality tech firms amid the economic ravages of the coronavirus pandemic.