France

Due to the lack of new issuance for over a week in the European corporate bond markets, the vote of no confidence in UK prime minister Theresa May was the talk of both the buy and sell sides on Wednesday morning. But there has been little effect on the market itself so far where political developments in other European states are more of a concern.

Société Générale is working to offer its clients direct clearing capabilities in the eurozone by the end of the year, as it launches an offering in Paris for listed and OTC derivatives.

Net covered bond supply from France is likely to fall in 2019, which should support spreads. However, French banks were among the most active users of the the European Central Bank's Targeted Longer Term Refinancing Operations (TLTRO), which, as it starts to mature, will need to be refinanced - and the covered bond market could be poised to provide some of that funding.

French postal operator La Poste saved the corporate bond market in Europe from registering a blank week when it sold its first green bond last Friday. On Wednesday, Deutsche Post followed its peer’s lead by announcing a deal with the same tenor.

Chinese and French banks may take advantage of a new Luxembourg green covered bond law, where the cover assets are linked to renewable energy, according to an official at the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE).

Edenred, the French operator of employee benefit schemes, discovered on Thursday that investors still have cash to put to work in the corporate bond market, even though eight deals had been priced in the first three days of the week and the end of the year is in sight.

Crédit Agricole came to what one banker called an "apathetic" market on Wednesday with a senior preferred issue from its new green bond framework, but did not have to offer a large premium to sell €1bn of notes.

Electricité de France has extended and amended its €4bn revolving credit facility to link it to environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards, as green-centric loans continue to gain traction among borrowers.

On Monday, French supermarkets group Carrefour made its second visit to the corporate bond market of 2018, once again in the wake of a period of volatility. However, the company’s timing proved to be good as it was able to tighten pricing 15bp from initial price thoughts.

French postal operator La Poste saved the corporate bond market in Europe from registering a blank week when it sold its first green bond on Friday. Despite the negative sentiment that had pervaded the market throughout the week, the company paid a new issue concession at the lower end of the range paid by deals the previous week.

The French government has taken further steps to rationalise its various public sector lending institutions with the transfer of a controlling stake of SFIL to Caisse des Dépôts et Consignation (CDC), a move that should theoretically help lower public spending.

Bankers in the corporate bond market still have a number of deals on their pads to try to execute ahead of the end of 2018. None was successful this week, but that hasn’t dented their ambition.