French Sovereign

The European Stability Mechanism has nipped in ahead of a European Central Bank Governing Council meeting later this week to mandate banks for a 10 year euro benchmark. Other euro supply this week could come from Région Île-de-France, which held a global investor call on Monday for a green and sustainability bond.

NRW.Bank will be the next SSA borrower to tap the euro market, after two eurozone sovereigns raised a combined €11.4bn through auctions on Thursday, making the most of a week largely free from political volatility.

Rating: Aa2/AA/AA

In its bid to, as one SSA syndicate official put it, "erase the ghosts" of its last visit to the far end of the euro curve, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) has spooked what had been a supportive market with its second shocker in as many attempts, writes Lewis McLellan.

Bpifrance Financement became this week’s third French public sector issuer on Thursday, scoring €500m with a tap.

Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) picked a tricky week for its first euro syndication in many years but, thanks to the deal’s green aspect, the trade went off without a hitch.

In spite of the spread between OATs and Bunds reaching a four year high, two French public sector issuers chose to come to market this week, hoping the market would be stable. It’s no longer enough for issuers to sit on their hands waiting for calm — it’s about braving possible volatility and funding when you can.

French issuers appear unfazed by political turbulence afflicting their sovereign's curve, with two borrowers in the market this week. Meanwhile, the European Financial Stability Facility sold its largest deal tranche in over 2.5 years.

This week's funding scorecard looks at the progress French agencies have made with their funding plans so far in 2017.

The prospect of a far-right leader becoming president of France rocked government bond markets this week. It led to a rare pulled French agency deal and will cause the country’s banks problems with their own huge funding needs. But as other issuers in eurozone countries facing elections showed, the picture of the risks ahead is complicated. Craig McGlashan reports.

The pipeline of environmental and social governance bonds is filling up with European public sector borrowers. Two are set to put on green bond roadshows in the weeks to come while a third is planning its social bond debut this year.

The rise of populism in Europe has claimed its first capital markets victims. Brace yourself for more.