Europe
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After years of not only falling loan volumes but being trounced in their own back yard, Europe's banks finally seem to have an edge against their US counterparts. With loan pricing gapping out in response to the coronavirus pandemic, but companies desperate for cash, the continent's lenders are proving first port of call for local borrowers, leaving US and Asian banks less active. Silas Brown, Mariam Meskin and Mike Turner report. -
Any concerns over whether the eurozone periphery would have market access after Bund spreads yawned wider during the past week were put to bed by a combined €31bn of borrowing from Italy and Spain. The sovereigns paid what was needed to put impressive dents in their ballooning funding requirements, ahead of a hotly anticipated European Council meeting on Thursday. Lewis McLellan and Tyler Davies report.
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The UK Debt Management Office has announced a borrowing programme that will, in the next four months alone, exceed the country’s largest ever annual total. Gilt yields have stayed steady, thanks to investors’ faith in the Bank of England’s asset purchase facility.
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Triple-B rated fragrance and flavourings company Firmenich sold its debut bond this week, a short end Swissie deal that was the prelude to dual tranche euro trade.
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The oil price slump on Monday spelt trouble for issuers in the already underperforming Norwegian krone bond market. Amid this turbulence, state-owned Norwegian airport operator Avinor flew in on Wednesday to print a Nkr2bn ($187.8m) dual floating and fixed tranche deal.
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New ECM head at UniCredit — NIB treasurer heads to SEB — Mills takes up newly created position at UBS
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The UK Debt Management Office has announced a borrowing programme that will, in the next four months alone, exceed the country’s largest ever annual borrowing volume. Gilt yields have stayed steady, thanks to investors’ faith in the Bank of England’s asset purchase facility.
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Bluestep Bank has issued its first covered bond and the first Swedish transaction secured on mortgages that are not prime. The deal offered a juicy pick-up to prime benchmarks, but still provided a competitive and diversified source of funding.
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Fundraising by continental European companies in response to Covid-19 has lagged behind those in the UK, which have raised more than £3bn since mid-March, but it is beginning to gather steam, with several large capital raises this week, including sales of new shares and convertible bonds by Just Eat Takeaway.com, the online food ordering marketplace, and Dufry, the Swiss operator of duty free concessions.
