NatWest Markets

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has extended the maturity of its €6.25bn syndicated bank facility, as loan market activity picks up at the beginning of the second quarter.

A trio of public sector borrowers hit screens with mandates on Monday ahead of what SSA bankers say will be a busy week of supply following a glut of benchmark issuance towards the end of the first quarter.

JPM securitization banker leaves — Goldman Brexiter quits for politics — Balax enrols in fintech course

RCI Banque followed Volkswagen Financial Services’ triple tranche bond issue on Monday with its own two-part issue on Wednesday. Both car finance banks, as very regular issuers, are unlikely to command the absolute tightest pricing relative to their secondary curves, but demand has also cooled somewhat this week, compared with the avid tone of recent weeks. Nevertheless, pricing tightened a long way.

A head of syndicate for SSA, MTNs, and short term markets has left his employer of 15 years to enrol in a fintech course at Oxford University.

Barclays and Natwest Markets have come first and second in league tables for cross-border activity in the US private placement market. As US private placements become more popular in the UK, British banks have strengthened their status in the market.

CaixaBank took advantage of strong market conditions to issue a €1bn seven year senior preferred transaction on Tuesday with strong demand allowing the issuer to price flat to its curve. At the same time, RBS opened order books for a dollar-denominated five year senior deal.

Lloyds Bank and National Westminster Bank issued exceptionally well subscribed covered bonds respectively in euros and sterling on Monday as Virgin Money announced roadshow plans for its debut deal. The three borrowers took advantage of the UK Parliamentary vote to avert a ‘no deal’ Brexit.

US company FIS is buying the formerly RBS-owned Worldpay in a debt-funded $43bn transaction, a deal that will form one of the biggest financial services technology and payment companies in the world.

Rating: Aa2/—/AA

The exceptionally strong demand in Europe’s corporate bond market has remained unaffected by the turmoil in the UK’s Parliament, as MPs vote night after night on repeated motions that could determine the country’s future inside or outside Europe. On Thursday, two issuers attracted huge books: Marsh & McLennan Companies, the US insurance and investment services group making its debut in euros, and Incommunities Group, a Leeds-based housing association, in sterling.

Public sector borrowers in the euro SSA market received strong demand in both the short and long ends of the curve on Tuesday. KfW took advantage of the blistering conditions to sell its first euro benchmark with a three year maturity since 2015, while Société du Grand Paris (SGP) sold its biggest ever bond.