Germany

ABN Amro and Deutsche Bank opened books on new senior deals in the sterling bond market, with bankers recognising that the currency is 'working very well' for international names.

German agricultural machinery firm Claas has entered the Schuldschein market for a minimum of €150m, with one of the deal's tranches not settling until mid-August.

KfW, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and, in the medium-term note (MTN) market, a German region and a Finnish agency have kicked off the Norwegian krone market for SSAs. Bankers are hoping to extend krone’s impressive form from last year into 2020.

Investors piled into the euro public sector bond market on Wednesday, allowing borrowers to achieve well subscribed order books and minimal new issue concessions for a range of maturities.

Faber-Castell, the German manufacturer of office supplies, was the second borrower to enter the Schuldschein market in 2020, offering five and seven year notes with a sustainability-linked ratchet on Wednesday.

Danske Mortgage Bank, Santander UK, Raiffeisenlandesbank Hypothekenpfandbrief and UniCredit Bank AG were marketing covered bonds on Wednesday, steering well clear of negative yields by tapping into healthy demand for long dated assets.

German pharmaceutical firm Vetter launched a Schuldschein on Tuesday, which is the first such offering in the market in 2020.

German automaker Daimler began its 2020 renminbi debt market activity on Tuesday with a Rmb3bn ($432m) Panda bond sold through a new issuance vehicle, Netherlands-based subsidiary Daimler International Finance.

A strong reception for a five year euro benchmark by KfW on Tuesday was enough to lure in a hesitant flock of public sector borrowers to the euro market as the pipeline stacks up for Wednesday’s business.

Issuers rushed to open the euro covered bond market this week. Trades from ABN Amro, Erste Group and LBBW showed that investors are ready to put cash to work, but higher new issue premiums suggested that issuers were taking a 'conservative' approach at the beginning of the year.

The pipeline is starting to fill in the public sector bond market with the European Investment Bank and Kommunalbanken set to bring dollar deals and KfW preparing its first euro benchmark of the year. More deals — including the first sovereign syndication of the year— are set to follow this week.

KfW broke new ground in the sterling bond market on Monday by bringing its largest ever benchmark in the currency. Kommunalbanken is looking to latch on to the red hot market too after picking banks to lead a new December 2024 trade.