Europe

Finnish agency Municipality Finance has faced a decline in callable MTN issuance this year as investors shun the format and move “more and more towards benchmarks with greater liquidity”, according to funding manager Martin Svedholm.

Australian banking group Macquarie is closing its cash equities business in Europe and the United States and has signed a cooperation agreement partnership with Kepler Cheuvreux, the French brokerage.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) refrained from pushing into record territory with the coupon on its new dollar-denominated AT1 on Tuesday, as European banks begin testing new lows for yields in the asset class.

Emre Eler is joining Citi, after nearly two decades at JP Morgan.

Banco de Sabadell completed its annual funding plan on Tuesday with a €500m preferred senior bond, adding a call option to the transaction in a clear sign that it is likely to be used as part of the minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL).

After making its debut in the capital markets last week, France’s Action Logement Services (ALS) plans to issue bonds and private placements across various maturities under its 100% sustainable euro medium-term note (EMTN) programme.

Naftogaz, Ukraine’s largest vertically integrated oil and gas company, is embarking on a roadshow for a dollar bond — its second outing in the international bond markets this year.

Credit Bank of Moscow is seeking to sell 2.75bn new shares through a fully marketed share sale, to fund a debt buyback to improve the composition of its regulatory capital.

Independent external auditors are looking into whether the European Commission has been successful in its work towards creating a capital markets union over the last five years. They are set to publish a report containing their recommendations for the project in 2020.

Austrian cellulose fibre maker Lenzing has entered the Schuldschein market with margins tied to its sustainability performance.

Luminor Bank is likely to issue the debut Estonian covered bond in the first quarter of 2020 according to the bank’s head of treasury, Max Ehrengren. Although the programme will have capacity to issue deals secured on Lithuanian and Latvian assets, the inaugural transaction will be exclusively secured on Estonian assets.

French car parts supplier Faurecia dipped into the bond markets again as it prepares to take over full control of its joint venture with Continental. It is adding €250m of senior notes to the €500m of 2026 notes it issued in the spring.