Germany

German healthcare company Fresenius has launched a Schuldschein across three tenors.

ZF Friedrichshafen is targeting the end of August to launch its grand return to the Schuldschein market, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The German car parts maker’s €2.2bn issue in November 2014 is the biggest deal the market has ever seen but a bigger deal may be on the way.

German housing company Gewobag has closed a Schuldschein in the next few days with well over €1bn of orders, in a transaction that could be the largest of this year so far.

Participants in the financial institutions bond market had expected that issuers could hit screens with new transactions as early as this week, but so far macroeconomic and political uncertainty has discouraged them from putting investor appetite to the test this summer.

Volumes are growing across the spectrum in the Scandinavian MTN markets, as issuers and bankers return from their summer holidays. Meanwhile, bankers are expecting Scandinavian investors to move further out along the credit curve in response to negative yields as dovish Nordic central bank tones could lead to a bullish Scandinavian market.

Münchener Hypothekenbank (MunHyp) is introducing commercial paper to its existing Ecological ESG Pfandbrief programme.

Issuers are set to gravitate towards selling higher yielding regulatory debt in the post-summer issuance window, so that they can attract investors and compensate for low overall interest rates. But FIG bankers are unsure what concessions will be needed to get deals away.

German agency KfW is “open to further business in [both] Singapore and Hong Kong dollars” as it looks to expand its recently updated green framework. Last week, the agency made its green bond debut in Hong Kong dollars, placing a two year private placement on August 2.

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German carmaker Daimler wrapped up a Rmb5bn ($710m) two tranche private placement Panda bond on Wednesday. Returning to the market after eight months, the Panda bond regular drove through turbulence.

Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC) has thrown open a €2.2bn-equivalent loan to support its acquisition of a minority stake in German automaker Daimler.

FIG bond investors are showing signs of become more risk-averse at the beginning of August, with bank bond spreads widening amid questions about the health of the European economy.