Italy

Banca Popolare di Sondrio is set to become the latest Italian bank to access the market for subordinated debt this month, tapping into a thirst for yield among European investors.

The last part of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena’s capital raising plan could also end up being the hardest, after the Italian lender was constrained this week to raising €300m of tier two at an eye-watering coupon rate of 10.5%. Tyler Davies reports.

Borrowers across the eurozone periphery will have spied a chance to raise capital after deals from Greece and Italy’s Banco di Desio this week.

Rating: Caa1/—/B

Robust demand for this week’s covered bond from Banco di Desio e della Brianza has boosted hopes of further supply from the eurozone periphery. But, with further European Central Bank stimulus on the way, a supply ‘onslaught’ is unlikely.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the ailing Italian bank, was offering a double digit yield in return for investment in a new €300m tier two on Tuesday, as it looked to chip away at its €700m shortfall in the asset class.

Banco di Desio e della Brianza took advantage of a recent 100bp rally in Italian government bonds to issue an Obbligazioni Bancarie Garantite (OBG) on Tuesday with a negative new issue premium.

In this round-up, S&P Global’s wholly-owned China unit gave its first onshore rating to ICBC Leasing, Italy will strengthen ties with the Mainland through a Panda bond and Bond Connect volumes rise.

FinecoBank was more than nine times subscribed for its first ever sale of an additional tier one instrument on Thursday, despite pricing the deal at a level that was lower than what might have been expected for a similar offering from UniCredit, its former parent.

The Italian benchmark FTSE MIB Index has risen more than 20% this year, buoyed by a rally in euro assets following the European Central Bank’s signal that it may adopt a more dovish stance and resume its bond buying programme. There is hope that this will translate into a strong market for Italian IPOs once the market reopens after the summer.

Italian banks have been in the spotlight recently and Mediobanca on Tuesday was the fifth bank to tap the euro market in the past two weeks, after UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena and UBI Banca. It attracted demand of more than three times the deal’s size of €500m.

UniCredit has sold the last of its stake in FinecoBank, its online brokerage business, for €1.1bn. This paves the way for chief executive Jean Pierre Mustier to present a new three year business plan to the markets in December.