HSBC

Spanish issuers were out in Europe’s corporate bond market on Monday, with Cepsa and Merlin Properties raising debt, as bankers and analysts expect a few weeks of “opportunistic” issuance in the run-up to earnings blackouts.

Niedersachsen Invest GmbH, the financing vehicle 100% guaranteed by the State of Lower Saxony with a policy mission for the recapitalisation and long-term restructuring of NordLB, received a strong reception from investors for its debut bond on Monday.

FMO began a series of investor calls on Monday to market a rare tier two bond issue ahead of a call date of a previous deal in the format in December.

Bankers and investors say FIG issuance will return to the fore after a sovereign-dominated first half of the year. Three bank issuers this week showed that the market is open for non-sovereign issuers. As fears of a second wave of Covid-19 infections and November's US presidential elections threaten volatility, some say the usually quiet summer period may be inundated with EM issuance.

Country Garden has launched a $1.5bn-equivalent loan into general syndication after mandating a group of nine banks.

Powerlong Real Estate Holdings has raised a new offshore borrowing of $120m-equivalent, just two months after closing a $200m loan.

Deutsche Bahn tapped the Kangaroo and Swedish kronor markets on Wednesday after having spent the first half of 2020 focused on the euro market.

Guarantor: Federal State of North Rhine‑Westphalia

NRW.Bank’s inaugural social bond sparked a flurry of 15 year trades this week as a flattening French curve and the positive yields on offer helped spur on demand, with three issuers opting to follow the German agency’s successful trip to the maturity on Wednesday.

Poland has become the first CEEMEA country outside the eurozone to sell a bond with a negative yield since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Uniqa Insurance has become the first European insurance company to take advantage of a change in the way in which S&P looks at capital quality, pricing a new short call tier two in euros on Thursday.

Syndicate bankers are scrambling to make sense of the covered bond market, where sentiment has been changeable in recent weeks. Amid volatility and small issuance windows, sustainable bonds have proven a safe strategy to ensure successful deals.