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Bank of America will become a primary dealer for the Netherlands' government bond market next year, but ING has quit, as part of its strategy of scaling back its dealerships to relieve pressure on its financial markets business.

The European Central Bank is expected to announce an extension to its Targeted Longer Term Refinancing Operations (TLTRO III) on Thursday, with this week's meeting long flagged as one for action. Any extension to either the duration of the programme or the minus 1% special interest period will ease the pressure on banks to repay borrowed funds early next September.

Emerging market borrowers seem to be enjoying unfettered access to the capital markets, but many are now questioning whether this Covid-induced debt spree can be sustained in the long run. With fiscal support packages likely to be needed in 2021, investors will be sifting through EM governments to see which will be able to borrow and which will be left behind, writes Mariam Meskin.

Sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) have hogged much of the limelight in the socially responsible investment markets this year. But transition bonds, which had fallen out of favour for some time, have demonstrated there is clear demand for the product, following a strong deal for Snam this week and guidelines due for release in the coming days, writes Mike Turner.

Turkey's largest city, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, hit markets on Wednesday, seeking to raise dollars in a rare debt-raise. The deal is one of three major bonds from Turkish issuers in the last week.

Top tier Turkish lender VakifBank was in the market on Tuesday for its debut sustainable dollar bond, which market participants say is likely to gain strong demand from a wide investor base.

The UK’s SSE Renewables and Norway’s Equinor, two energy companies, have signed what lenders say is the largest ever offshore wind project financing, a £5.5bn package for a wind farm off the UK coast.

Snam, the Italian gas network company, has reinvigorated the transition bond market, servicing investors unable to buy sustainability-linked bonds.

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey’s largest city, and VakifBank have both mandated banks to arrange dollar bond syndications. The trades come just days after the sovereign squeezed into the market before the US Thanksgiving holiday to raise a tightly priced dollar bond.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) has declared the end of the Basel III policy agenda, promising that any further reforms in this area will be "limited in nature".

Banco de Sabadell’s debt securities took a nose-dive in the secondary market on Friday morning, after the Spanish lender said that it had failed to agree on the terms of a merger with BBVA.

Mercuria and Gunvor, the Swiss commodity and energy trading firms, have signed credit facilities for their US businesses, with both companies adding more banks to the deals.