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De Volksbank said that ambitious sustainability targets played a big role in helping it to attract investor attention this week. The Dutch lender became the first European bank to sell a tier two bond in green format, hot on the heels of the first green additional tier one transaction.

The new green hybrid bond from Dutch utility Tennet was trading tighter on Thursday, quelling suggestions from bankers off the trade that the deal’s oversubscription level was an indication that it would underperform.

Goodman Hong Kong Logistics Fund1 (GHKLF), a warehouse property owner, found overwhelming investor support for its first dollar bond in six years.

Tennet, the Dutch utility, lit up the market with a €1bn green hybrid that came flat to its curve on Wednesday, though some away from the trade said they would have expected to see a slightly larger book for such a well-regarded issuer.

Market participants said that de Volksbank was close to sailing through fair value with the pricing on its new tier two on Wednesday, the first such deal in green format from a European bank.

Tennet, the Dutch utility, has mandated for a long-telegraphed green hybrid bond, as the company looks to protect its credit rating during stakeholder discussions with the German and Dutch governments.

Central and Eastern European commercial real estate operator NEPI Rockcastle issued a green bond on Tuesday, attracting new investors to its debt.

Bank of Communications Financial Leasing Co priced a $800m dual-tranche deal on Tuesday. While it initially wanted to sell just a floating rate note, it added a fixed rate portion too due to investor interest.

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.

European banks are looking to tie up loose ends in their 2020 funding plans in next couple of weeks, according to deal arrangers, as they get ready for a remarkably uncertain summer period. Tyler Davies reports.

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.

National Grid Electricity Transmission, the UK power transmission company, was out with a dual tranche trade on Thursday, including the first test of the conventional sterling benchmark market in more than a month.