Luxembourg

Anoa Capital, a Luxembourg-based boutique investment bank, is building out an origination team following the hire of Mike Turnbull as head of origination.

FMS Wertmanagement has launched two separate tender offers on the Irish Stock Exchange for euro, swiss franc, US and Canadian dollar denominated covered bonds issued by DEPFA Bank and DEPFA Pfandbrief Bank SA.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Europe) has received approval from the Luxembourg regulator for its ICBC Credit Suisse S&P China 500 Index Fund this week. The fund is the first Ucits product using Luxembourg’s own quote under the RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) scheme.

In the last RMB round-up of 2015, HSBC became the first foreign bank to issue RMB-denominated CDs to corporates in China, Hungary plans RMB bonds in 2016 and Russian bank VTB saw a big boost to its RMB business in 2015. Plus, a recap of GlobalRMB’s top stories this week.

The first products under the renminbi qualified institutional investor (RQFII) programme should launch as early as the first half of next year, according to Camille Thommes, director general of the Association of the Luxembourg fund industry (Alfi).

After waiting more than six months, Luxembourg has obtained its first licence under the renminbi qualified foreign institutional investor (RQFII) scheme. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Europe) received an approval on November 2 and is aiming to get a quota within the month.

Three issuers launched covered bond benchmarks in euros this week, down from nine in the previous week, as borrowers anticipated an improvement in market conditions and lower new issue concessions.

NordLB Luxembourg Covered Bond Bank issued a €500m three year Lettres de Gage Publiques on Thursday. The deal offered a 24bp premium to where NordLB Germany trades, and therefore attracted a comfortable level of oversubscription despite its lack of compliance with the capital requirements directive (CRD) covered bond definition and its split rating.

Luxembourg’s local fund industry association published a guide for institutions who want to join the RMB qualified foreign institutional investor (RQFII). It comes after the country was awarded a quota of Rmb50bn in April 2015.

The European Stability Mechanism, which has made a number of recent hires including newly created senior positions, is continuing to reshape its management structure with another appointment.

Boutique asset manager Sparinvest will consolidate two of its high yield bond sub-funds into its existing Corporate Value Bonds on September 25, as the company reviews its product range.

Citigroup has hired Deutsche Bank’s head of equity capital markets for France to build its market share across France, Benelux and Switzerland.