Europe

Société du Grand Paris and the City of Munich will break new ground in the socially responsible bond market this week as the pipeline for green and social debt from public sector borrowers builds.

Berlin Hyp was unable to tighten pricing as much as it wanted for its seven year Pfandbrief on Monday, showing that a steep fall in yields this year is having a direct impact on the primary market. The transaction provided a clear warning to issuers who believe they should be able to price deals flat to their outstanding curves.

Deutsche Hypo has mandated lead managers for a Pfandbrief deal, choosing the same seven year maturity that Berlin Hyp opted for on Monday.

Shareholders in Investec Group have approved the proposed spin-off of its £121bn asset management division Ninety One, paving the way for Ninety One’s IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

The Kingdom of Norway is eyeing the international investor base as it prepares to launch its yearly Norwegian krone bond syndication — a new 10 year benchmark, set to mature in August 2030.

Piraeus Bank has mandated lead managers for the sale of a new tier two, as it looks to follow the success of its compatriot Alpha Bank. Greek banks have emerged as big winners in the secondary market recently, with investors shrugging off risks and focusing on ‘only the positives’.

Credit Suisse’s outgoing chief executive Tidjane Thiam thought he could win the power struggle against chairman Urs Rohner but he overlooked the real power broker — Severin Schwan.

Natixis, one of the investment banks that has gone furthest to prioritise greener financing, had to ramp up its provisions for credit loss from US natural gas producers in the fourth quarter, pointing to “structural transformation” in the sector. But it told GlobalCapital that it still saw opportunity in the industry.

The IPO of Calisen Group, the UK operator of smart meters, is due to be priced at 240p a share according to final messages from boorkunners, slightly below the midpoint of the 225p-265p initial range, valuing the company at £1.29bn.

The Republic of Turkey made its much anticipated start to the year with a bang on Thursday, taking advantage of feverish risk appetite among emerging markets investors to sell its largest ever bond, a $4bn dual tranche deal.

UK billionaire Peter Hargreaves has sold £550m of stock in Hargreaves Lansdown, the UK financial services company he co-founded, via a block trade that was increased to satisfy a huge demand.

The departure of Tidjane Thiam as chief executive of Credit Suisse on Friday caused the bank’s share price to fall, but analysts believe the firm’s strategy is likely to remain largely unchanged.