Europe

Russian consumer finance bank Home Credit & Finance Bank has hit the road to market a rare AT1 in a deal that could be a test of emerging markets investors’ risk appetite for less vanilla deals.

A rise in the Swiss swap curve and an improvement in cross-currency dynamics helped momentum created by a well-received Citi trade last Friday to be carried over into this week. Three familiar FIG names returned to the market on Monday, including Chile’s Banco de Credito e Inversiones (BCI).

Italy won huge backing from investors as it placed its first BTP Italia trade since a poorly received deal in November 2018, which came during the peak of the volatility in the country’s bond market.

The University of Nottingham is looking to sell US private placements, according to market sources, becoming the third UK university to enter the private debt market this year.

Elizabeth Geoghegan is joining Irish asset manager Mediolanum International Funds Limited as a fixed income portfolio manager.

Bain Capital-backed market research business Kantar showed this week that investors still have some bite in the high yield market. Buyers forced the issuer to flex numerous covenants, tinker with the tranches, delay the issue and consent to unusually juicy coupons. The deal may not be a sign of things to come, however, as Crown waltzed through its bond launch, setting a new low coupon record for a fixed rate bond.

James Janoskey will head up JP Morgan’s investment banking activities for energy in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Instituto de Crédito Oficial (Ico) and Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB) found strong demand in the short end of the euro curve on Wednesday, which SSA bankers are calling the new sweet spot, despite the deeply negative yields.

Banks could ramp up the supply of new bond deals towards the beginning of November, according to FIG DCM officials, after taking a slower and more cautious approach to the market in recent weeks.

Investec has hired two analysts to join its industrials equity research team in London.

The IPO market has had a brutal October with investor conviction flooding away. Now, market sources hope they can get a few remaining deals done before year-end.

The lack of unity among the European Central Bank’s Governing Council on monetary policy means its next deposit rate cut will probably not occur until next year, according to analysts.