Europe

The Covid-19 global pandemic is not an unmitigated disaster for everyone, as several companies showed on Monday night by selling new shares to take advantage of the unexpected opportunities that the pandemic has created for them.

Market participants have dismissed the viability of Turkey extending its swap line arrangements with the US Federal Reserve this week to enhance the country's access to dollars. They also noted that little has happened to change their bearish outlook on the sovereign.

Agence Française de Développement (AFD) will tap the dollar market this week to become the latest public sector borrower to print a bond in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Italy mandated banks for a new five year to be sold alongside a tap of a September 2050 bond on Monday as it prepares to bolt on a bigger funding programme in order to fund its effort against the coronavirus pandemic. The sovereign will be joined by Luxembourg in the euro public sector bond market on Tuesday.

US entities of two of the Big Four accounting firms have entered the private placement market. KPMG sold US private placements in early April, according to market sources, while Deloitte is looking to follow suit.

A recent European Central Bank working paper may have underestimated the part a sovereign’s credit plays in the covered bond’s credit risk. But this relationship plays a very important role, a Moody’s analyst said on Monday, referring to a report by the agency assessing how the pandemic will affect covered bond credit quality.

BPCE seized an opportunity to launch €1.5bn of preferred senior funding this week — an asset class that has outperformed all other bank funding products in the market in recent trading sessions.

Credit Bank of Moscow, one of the few Russian banks to frequently tap the international syndicated lending market, has raised a loan from a consortium of international banks. The deal comes amid an increasing number of Covid-19 infections being reported in Russia, which is now one of the emerging markets with the fastest-accelerating growth of cases.

Aston Martin, the UK luxury car maker, has successfully completed its £371m heavily dilutive rights issue, with a high take-up from shareholders, including a consortium led by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll.

The Belgian Debt Agency has announced an increase to its financing requirements for 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which will see it borrow an extra €20.41bn.

Austria made a rare trip to the dollar market last Thursday as it raised $600m via a reverse enquiry-led private placement, GlobalCapital understands.

Henri Mills has been made UBS's first head of global markets distribution for France, the Benelux and Nordic regions.