Europe

Financial institutions could take longer than usual to return to the euro bond market at the start of 2020, with the early issuance window having been broken up by the holiday period.

Iceland’s banks are expected to launch their first additional tier one (AT1) transactions in 2020, as they push on with optimising their capital structures.

GlobalCapital will, once again, be gathering at our annual Equity Capital Markets Awards dinner on Wednesday March 18 2020, please save the date in your diaries.

GlobalCapital has penned an open letter to UK prime minister Boris Johnson ahead of his negotiations next year on the UK's future relationship with the European Union.

TrailStone Group, the gas and power trader and investor based in London, has closed the year with a €150m revolving credit facility, which complies with the Green Loan Principles.

Karolina Burmeister has been appointed country head for Finland at Citigroup.

The EMEA equity capital markets have ended the year on a high, with strong risk appetite prompting a string of block trades in December. The year also ended with more issuance than 2018, thanks to the world’s largest ever IPO. GlobalCapital speaks to bankers about their expectations for 2020.

Andrew Bailey is seen as a ‘safe pair of hands’ as the new governor of the Bank of England. But while he is a veteran of the bank, his views on monetary policy are not well known, as he has never served on the Monetary Policy Committee. In that respect, though a career central banker, he resembles Christine Lagarde, who has taken the helm at the European Central Bank.

Shares in Schmolz + Bickenbach, the Swiss steel maker, surged 9% on Friday after the company said it is due to price its Sfr325m rights offer at Sfr0.30, the top of the range, securing its future after a long period of underperformance.

Investors eyeing Ukraine will have to wait until next year for a clearer view on how friendly the country is to foreign capital, after a court delayed a decision on the fight over Privatbank, the scandal dominating the country's financial affairs.

The European Commission is talking with Italy about its proposed rescue of the troubled lender Banca Popolare di Bari, after the country passed a decree law this week spelling out plans for state intervention.

In this round-up, state buyers are set to bail out Shandong-based Hengfeng Bank, the renminbi’s international usage rebounded in November after a slight drop in October, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s securities brokerage affiliate plans to set up a wholly-owned China unit.