HSBC

Coventry Building Society received a strong reception for the first euro-denominated covered bond from a UK issuer since the UK referendum to leave the European Union. Despite cheaper funding alternatives, the deal demonstrated Coventry’s strategic commitment to the euro market.

The Republic of Korea looks set to be the first Asian sovereign to hit the international debt market in 2017, with plans to meet fixed income investors next week for a potential dollar bond.

German chemicals producer BASF snatched a steal in sterling on Tuesday as it printed flat to its curve with a £300m long eight year trade that began 2017’s corporate bond issuance in the currency.

The IPO of Saudi Aramco is likely to remain a top talking point for equity capital markets bankers for much of 2017, but another Saudi deal that is likely to prove more straightforward to bring to market has taken another step forward.

A dual tranche global deal from the Asian Development Bank on Wednesday at least temporarily dashed hopes that this year could be strong for 10 year dollar benchmark issuance — although some bankers away from the trade felt that the problems were idiosyncratic rather than reflective of demand.

KfW and Ireland brought euro deals on Wednesday at the very top end of size expectations, alleviating a little of the pressure on what is set to be an extremely busy year in the currency. The trades came the same day as Municipality Finance mandated for a euro benchmark and a request for proposals came from the European Financial Stability Facility.

Syndication of the acquisition financing loans for Lonza and Sibanye Gold is expected to begin soon, as loans bankers begin 2017 in an optimistic mood.

The European Investment Bank set a marker on Wednesday that sterling issuance could be just as hot this month as it was in January last year — as another pair of issuers hoped to add further evidence of that this week.

Bank of Cyprus announced a roadshow for its first new-style tier two bond on Wednesday, in a move that will shed light on the strength of risk appetite in the FIG market as investors take a close look at the rare borrower.

Royal Bank of Canada took advantage of deeper demand for fixed rate paper than floating in sterling covered bonds, issuing a five year trade on Wednesday. RBC has gathered more demand for its deal than Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which issued a floating rate deal a day before.

DNB Boligkreditt got the Nordic covered bond market off to a blistering start on Wednesday with a €2bn five year deal that leads were able to tighten by 5bp from initial guidance.

Chinese sportswear manufacturer Xtep International Holdings has doubled the size of its latest borrowing to $200m after finding demand from a group of nine banks.