Germany

Korean Housing and Finance Corporation (KHFC) has opened order books in dollars, Muenchener Hypothekenbank (MuHyp) is set to price a small Swiss Franc deal and Piraeus Bank has finalised terms for its floating rate bond that was mainly placed with supranationals.

Deutsche Hypo has mandated leads to market its inaugural green Pfandbrief, taking the number of German green covered bond issuers to two. But since the bank could be soon bought by the only other green Pfandbrief issuer, the universe might well return to one.

A new bond refinancing deal for German fashion company Takko will provide a welcome boost to triple-C bond volumes, although it is not clear whether the deal will pave the way for a wave of risky credits to return to the high yield market, bankers said.

Exchange and clearing house operator Deutsche Börse and its CEO Carsten Kengeter are back in hot water after a multi-million euro settlement offer over alleged insider trading was thrown out by Frankfurt’s local court on Monday. Senior public prosecutor in Frankfurt, Nadja Niesen, told GlobalCapital on Tuesday that the court rejected the prosecution's attempts to settle the case by means of a "monetary penalty".

NRW.Bank is set to return to the sterling market on Tuesday, coming on the heels of a tap from the Council of Europe Development Bank.

WL Bank and Berlin Hyp this week followed last week's lead by Helaba, taking advantage of a quiet market and historically tight covered bond spreads to launch two tightly priced €250m Pfandbrief taps at the long end of the curve this week.

Aroundtown, the German commercial property company, raised €450m of growth capital on Thursday night in a share sale led by Goldman Sachs, Berenberg and Deutsche Bank.

uarantor: Federal Republic of Germany

A pair of public sector borrowers launched trades in the socially responsible investment (SRI) market this week, taking advantage of the dearth of green supply to land prices well inside their conventional curves.

KfW tapped its July 2020 Australian dollar green bond for A$200m ($156.9m) on Wednesday, pricing well inside its existing Kangaroo curve — an illustration of the developing maturity of green markets down under.

The Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia came to market for its longest ever bond on Thursday, raising €1bn with a 40 year transaction in a market that “just can’t get any hotter”, according to a banker at one of the leads.

Shares in Varta, the German maker of micro-batteries for hearing aids and wireless headphones, closed 15% higher on Thursday after the company priced its €203m Frankfurt IPO at the top of the range.