Europe
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Natixis’s corporate and investment bank slumped to a loss in the first quarter, results showed on Wednesday, as it provisioned for credit losses and took a similar hit in equities to its French peers. -
European lenders are debating whether it is worth them taking advantage of new IFRS 9 transitional rules, with some market participants suggesting they will largely ignore any capital benefit gained through these sorts of relief measures.
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Issuers are starting to feel more comfortable with the new normal of wider spreads as a flurry of deals dusted the Swiss franc market, including a rare operating-company level visit from UBS.
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Issuance in the financial institutions bond market had a preferred senior flavour this week, with issuers finding this the most cost-effective funding compared with other asset classes. In addition, some of them can use it to fulfil regulatory requirements.
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Estonia’s LHV Pank is set to become the second bank in the country to take advantage of the country’s covered bond law and, having set up a programme and gained central bank authority to issue, Moody’s this week assigned a rating to its programme.
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Instituto de Crédito Oficial (Ico) was almost seven times covered for its four year Covid-19 social bond on Wednesday, as investors continue to support deals to tackle the pandemic. The European Stability Mechanism could follow with a similar maturity next week, after it sent banks a request for proposals (RFP).
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Italy this week began the slow process of reopening its economy after months of strict lockdown. The country's equity bankers are busy preparing new deals, including IPOs, writes Sam Kerr.
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Germany smashed its return to the syndicated bond market on Wednesday with its biggest ever order book and deal in the format, which was priced flat to fair value at the final spread, according to the leads.
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National Express has become the latest London-listed company to tap equity investors for emergency funding, with a £235m capital raising.
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Equinor, the petroleum refining company, sold the last of its shares in oil and gas exploration firm Lundin Energy in a Skr3.3bn ($335m) block trade on Tuesday evening.
