French Sovereign

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.

Two public sector borrowers had very contrasting fortunes with no-grow three year dollar bond issues on a volatile Tuesday.

Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has pulled a three year dollar deal that was expected to be priced today.

The public sector dollar market looks set to pick up the pace of a record breaking January after last week’s slowdown in issuance, with two borrowers on screen for Tuesday business at press time on Monday and more issuance expected later in the week.