NatWest Markets

Spanish telecoms provider Telefónica hit the euro market on Tuesday for a dual tranche offering that tested the outer limit of investors’ appetite for long tenors.

The UK Debt Management Office has picked the maturity and timing for a scheduled bond sale later this month. Elsewhere in sterling, a pair of issuers added deals to a bumper opening week that fell just short of a record.

Royal Bank of Canada, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Deutsche Pfandbriefbank tapped the sterling covered bond market this week at cheaper levels than they could have achieved in euros and dollars.

Innogy, the renewables, retail and grids subsidiary of RWE, is on course to be made liable for €10.1bn of bonds issued by its parent, after gaining approval from a majority of bondholders for a consent solicitation this week.

NatWest Markets, the rebranded RBS, has hired a new managing director to run origination and solutions for the US, covering corporates and financial institutions.

Royal Bank of Scotland was looking to settle a series of litigation claims for up to £800m this week, shortly after being heavily penalised by potential misconduct fines in the Bank of England’s 2016 stress tests.

On the surface, stress tests seem arcane and disconnected from reality. Perhaps they are, but they’re an increasingly important tool for bank regulators around the world.

Royal Bank of Scotland submitted a revised capital plan after failing the Bank of England’s 2016 stress test this week, with the UK lender’s large potential misconduct fines playing an important role in its poor test performance.

Severn Trent issued the first corporate deal for a month into the sterling market bond market on Monday as it tapped investors for a 15 year transaction.

Banks will have more time to build up sufficient equity and debt for their minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL), said the Bank of England.

Standard Chartered rocked assumptions about old style capital instruments this week when it said it would not call its legacy capital deal. Issuers with similarly structured bonds may not want to ignore the economic benefits of the UK bank’s decision and the likely consequences for future additional tier one issuance. Tyler Davies reports.

Nomura's former EMEA FIG syndicate head will be joining Royal Bank of Scotland, according to two market sources.