Europe

HSBC Germany has hired Heiko Mittelhamm as head of M&A for Germany and Austria.

Equity capital markets bankers are looking to bring several UK transactions to market over the next month and are hoping that investor risk appetite, healthy at the end of 2019, will allow them to get off to a quick start to the new year.

The Republic of Slovenia became the first CEEMEA issuer to print a bond this decade, quickly launching a €1.5bn deal from a book of €11.75bn on Tuesday.

DCM officials were encouraged to see investors piling into new non-preferred senior bank bonds on Tuesday, as BBVA, Crédit Agricole and Credit Suisse combined to reopen the market. Borrowers have been willing to offer extra spread to investors at the initial price thoughts stage.

Issuers rushed to open the euro covered bond market this week. Trades from ABN Amro, Erste Group and LBBW showed that investors are ready to put cash to work, but higher new issue premiums suggested that issuers were taking a 'conservative' approach at the beginning of the year.

BNP Paribas and Danske Bank were looking to raise non-preferred senior debt in the sterling market on Tuesday, with the cost of funding in the currency having fallen into line with euro pricing levels.

KommuneKredit has recruited a senior treasury manager to focus on the Danish agency’s funding and derivatives business.

NN Investment Partners has hired a senior convertible bonds investor for its London team.

The UK’s National Grid Electricity Transmission is set to make its debut green bond issue in euros, when it returns to the currency for the first time for more than a decade.

The pipeline is starting to fill in the public sector bond market with the European Investment Bank and Kommunalbanken set to bring dollar deals and KfW preparing its first euro benchmark of the year. More deals — including the first sovereign syndication of the year— are set to follow this week.

KfW broke new ground in the sterling bond market on Monday by bringing its largest ever benchmark in the currency. Kommunalbanken is looking to latch on to the red hot market too after picking banks to lead a new December 2024 trade.

Many investors made their first trades of the new year on Monday selling risk positions. That has thrown into doubt issuers' plans to bring new business to the primary market.