Italy
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The rump auction following the rights issue of Banca Carige, the Genoese bank, was closed early after two days on Monday, but participants in the deal have to wait till Thursday to find out how many of the buyers will subscribe for the up to €167m of shares. -
Public sector debt bankers and fellow debt management office heads have lined up to praise the impact on the Italian and wider European sovereign debt markets of Italy funding head Maria Cannata, who is retiring after nearly three decades at the country’s Treasury. While universally agreeing that she would be greatly missed both professionally and personally — including her sense of humour — there was also strong confidence that the team she has put in place will be able to meet all Italy’s future challenges.
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Ignazio Visco, the governor of the Bank of Italy, told lawmakers in Rome this week that Europe’s bank rescue rules did not help with the ‘speed and effectiveness’ of dealing with the country’s recent banking crises.
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Italian sovereign green bond issuance could be scuppered by risk monitoring difficulties arising from the regional complexities of the country.
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Maria Cannata of the Italian Tesoro, one of the sovereign bond market’s best known and longest serving funding heads, is to retire, just after the new year.
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The US Federal Reserve raised its target rate to 125bp-150bp this week in a move investors and analysts widely expected, but there was still a small rally in US Treasury yields as some of the central bank’s projections hinted at what analysts called a “Goldilocks scenario for bonds”. That is likely to be welcomed in the offices of one sovereign issuer, which is planning a return to the dollar market after a long absence.
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UniCredit was able to sell a new additional tier one (AT1) at close to fair value this week, after updating the market about its progress with its strategic plan at a conference in London.
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Italy is planning to return to the dollar market in 2018 for the first time in years and could also make an appearance in yen further down the line.
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UniCredit followed up on its capital markets day by announcing the sale of a new additional tier one (AT1) bond on Wednesday.
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Belgium will issue its first sovereign green bond in the first quarter of 2018. Several countries in southern Europe are investigating the option, but they are less likely to issue in the near future.
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The European Central Bank has lowered UniCredit’s Pillar 2 capital requirements by 50bp, recognising the Italian lender’s latest efforts to clean up its balance sheet.
