Germany

Christian Berendes will head up Deutsche Bank’s government and regulatory affairs department from next year, after being promoted internally.

The European Commission will allow a group of public institutions in Germany to inject €2.8bn of capital into the troubled German lender NordLB, after finding that its recapitalisation plans conformed to EU rules on state aid.

As a nascent feature of the Schuldschein market, secondary trading still hasn’t developed market norms and many remain unclear about the process.

Gewobag, the A2/A+ rated German housing company, launched the first Schuldschein with a Euribor floor set below zero in November and the transaction has closed at €650m, according to a source close to the deal. The success of this deal will encourage arrangers to bring more companies to market with negative floors in 2020.

Montana Tech Components has monetised a small chunk of its stake in Varta AG, the German micro battery maker, ahead of the company’s inclusion in the MDAX, Germany’s midcap benchmark index.

The Association of German Pfandbrief banks (VDP) has criticised a Berlin local government decision to cap rents, which it believes will hit investor confidence and lower construction activity. Despite these concerns, the outlook for Pfandbrief supply is positive and remains underpinned by solid fundamental factors.

Commerzbank took advantage of a rise in yields to launch a nine year Pfandbrief on Monday. With yields rising 6bp overnight amid an improvement in risk sentiment, bankers suggested a positive yielding long seven year can expect a fair reception.

Commerzbank was careful to leave a bit of premium on the table for investors on Wednesday, as it took home €500m of seven year funding ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday in the US.

Grenke priced an additional tier one (AT1) bond on Tuesday, enjoying strong appetite from domestic investors. The German lender raised €75m, an additional €25m compared with the expected size.

GlobalCapital understands that Germany is finalising plans for the issuance of its debut green bond, which will be sold in the first half of next year alongside an ordinary Bund with the same maturity and coupon.

German family-owned tissue and toilet paper manufacturer Wepa is marketing €550m of senior secured notes with an intention to extend maturities and slash interest expenses. It is following a number of other double-B issuers in to the market.

Grenke on Monday announced new plans for additional tier one (AT1) bond on Monday. The bank and leasing company could be looking at a small issuance window for its offering, with DCM officials predicting an early end to the year for deal flow.