Natixis

The City of Paris is set to follow deals from the European Stability Mechanism and SNCF Réseau last week by bringing a trade at the long end of the euro curve.

Will euros or dollars dominate SSA bond issuance in the second quarter? Debate over the direction of primary markets broke out this week with issuers scheming arbitrage trades in euros, while others believe the dollars will win out. Craig McGlashan reports.

French industrial minerals producer Imerys brought two tranches of €300m sub benchmark notes to the European corporate bond market on Wednesday and clinched minimal concessions.

SNCF Réseau became the second SSA issuer of the week to target the long end of the euro curve, printing a €500m May 2037 on Wednesday.

A trio of issuers in euros joined the sole dollar SSA benchmark deal this week in a flurry of pre-holiday activity, with a banker away from the this week's action remarking that the terrorist attacks in Belgium were likely to have a limited effect on SSA deals.

Zodiac Aerospace, the French aeroplane seat maker, has sold a seven year Euro private placement to refinance an older Euro PP and the first instalment of a Schuldschein, both issued in 2013.

Oil products storage and distribution firm Puma Energy has invited banks to join a $500m loan that will refinance a one year revolver that matures this May.

Natixis has appointed its new global head of debt capital markets for financial institutions.

Crédit Agricole raised €3.25bn as it issued the biggest euro covered bond benchmark since 2007 on Wednesday, achieving a competitive cost of term funding at historically cheap rates.

GlobalCapital announces the results of its Equity Capital Markets Awards for 2015, following our inaugural ECM Awards Dinner, in London on March 16.

Natixis might not be making a big splash, but its corporate finance acquisitions show it has serious aspirations, writes David Rothnie.

China’s reported intention to introduce a Tobin tax on foreign exchange transactions has provoked a somewhat typical rush of condemnation. However, some analysts are already pointing out that pros and cons might indeed balance each other out.