SSAs in the European Union have slashed their outstanding volumes of commercial paper and certificates of deposit in euros by over 15% since the European Central Bank cut its deposit rate by 10bp to minus 0.1% on June 5. The figures come as Standard & Poor’s warned that the rate cut could cause investors to pull out of money market funds — one of the ECP market’s most important investor bases.

Agencies are taking advantage of arbitrage opportunities to print more private placements in sterling, they told GlobalCapital this week.

Longer than normal floating rate notes and currency plays could provide a large part of the private placement landscape over the coming months, funding officials and dealers said this week, in the wake of the European Central Bank’s decision on June 5 to lower interest rates.

The medium term note market welcomed one of the rarest of issuers on Tuesday, as the tiny country of French Polynesia sold its debut bond.

Kommuninvest has tightened its medium term note levels after finding increased demand following speculation that covered bonds — which the agency prices relative to — could attain Level 1 status under Basel III’s liquidity coverage ratio put downward pressure on its funding costs. It comes as the issuer also enjoyed a revisit to euros, printing private placements in the currency for the first time since October 2011.

Investors are hungry for duration from Belgian sub sovereign issuers, which are looking to tap the demand and will push further out the maturity curve in the coming weeks, according to bankers. But some of the borrowers are sticking to medium term deals, opting for clips with maturities between three and five years.

Stefan Rinauer has taken the reins at Société Générale’s euro medium term note desk, GlobalCapital can reveal, replacing Ariane Uzan.

Cyprus’s re-emergence into the capital markets this week with a private placement has some public sector bankers pushing for a syndication — a deal which would mark the quickest comeback to issuance from a bailed-out eurozone sovereign. But the escalating tensions over the Ukraine crisis between Russia and the West could dampen the country’s prospects.

Finnish and German municipalities have changed their approach to funding this year. Finnish municipalities are mulling private placements, while their German peers are moving away from the bond markets.

Land Saxony-Anhalt could follow Land Nordrhein-Westfalen’s lead and print more private placements in niche currencies this year, according to MTN bankers. Land NRW sold the first Brazilian real deal from a German sub-sovereign this week.

Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) is planning to raise up to half of its 2014 funding requirement through commercial paper, GlobalCapital understands, having set up its debut programme earlier this month.

Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten is considering selling more private placements in Japanese yen this year after selling its longest ever note in the currency on Wednesday. The borrower won’t be short of demand for longer dated notes as Japanese investors are looking beyond their home market, according to MTN bankers.