Europe

Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd, the London-listed fund that invests in music royalties, is considering another equity capital raising to finance its investment pipeline, only four months after it last raised £231m ($297.45m). In January, the fund acquired an extensive song catalogue, including 'Believe' by Cher.

Inconsistent laws and a lack of faith in untested resolution tools have “stretched the credibility” of the bank failure framework in Europe, according to analysts at S&P.

Banks are delaying their plans to raise funding in the euro market, as credit spreads drifted wider on news about the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

The spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak is grounding equity capital markets banks attempting to win business as face-to-face meetings are cancelled. This week SIA, the Italian payments company, said that banks pitching to win the mandate for its IPO could do so over the phone or by video call rather than travel to Milan.

MTN deal volumes year-to-date have slumped by nearly a third year on year, falling from $51.6bn in 2019 to $35bn this year. The fall has been particularly pronounced in core currency deals, with deals from other currencies forming a larger proportion of the market.

Alvaro Revuelta and Jorge Ramos have been picked as co-heads of investment banking in Iberia for Citi.

Investors who have been longing for the EU Taxonomy of Sustainable Economic Activities to tell them what is green are now realising that its arrival could make life tricky. From the end of next year, they will have to start reporting how sustainable all their portfolios are. It could prove an enormous headache. But a tiny company has developed a tool it claims can cut out a lot of the worries investors face in working out how to comply.

Spain was able to raise €5bn of 30 year paper on Tuesday, braving difficult market conditions to close the deal. While the trade was a success, the sharp fall in the order book at the final spread indicated some investors are beginning to push back on price.

Eurofima, the Swiss-based railway financing agency, has let its head of capital markets go as part of a restructuring.

UK covered bonds looked cheap, said traders on Tuesday, especially relative to Canadian and Australian alternatives. Their views followed a report from Moody’s which said on Monday that UK banks’ credit fundamentals were resilient and their covered bond ratings well protected.

Yandex, the Russian internet company, reopened the equity-linked bond primary market in EMEA after more than a month without any new issues, with a $1.25bn five year convertible bond. The deal was priced at the midpoint of the terms, suggesting healthy demand.

Santander UK is looking to buy back part of a subordinated bond issued in 2013 in a bid to “optimise its regulatory capital structure”.