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Paris is a centre for continental European private debt activity that goes on outside the German Schuldschein and US private placement markets, which are both clearly defined by their legal documents.

The gloom over Russian capital markets was lifted a little this week as the US Treasury softened its stance towards sanctioned aluminium behemoth Rusal, giving hope to markets that the announcement of new sanctions against Russia at the beginning of April may not have been a knockout blow, write Sam Kerr, Francesca Young and Mike Turner.

A syndicate of 17 banks was mandated to help French shopping centre operator Unibail-Rodamco raise €3bn with four tranches of senior bonds this week. The deal came two weeks after the company sold €2bn of hybrid bonds and completes the funding for its takeover of Australian shopping centre operator Westfield.

Corporates are hoping for a bumper month for issuance in dollar bonds as M&A funders hit the market after a record April.

German car company Daimler raced from one side of the Atlantic to the other this week to raise €6.7 equivalent from 10 tranches of bonds with tenors from two to 10 years.

The Schuldschein market attracted a record number of international issuers last year, and swept aside other forms of European private debt in the process. Now it must confront a bigger beast — a credit-hungry unrated public bond market — while simultaneously absorbing the impact of the European Central Bank winding down its bond purchasing programme. Silas Brown reports.

Hungarian fertiliser company Nitrogénművek has released initial price guidance for its €200m seven year non-call three bond.

Sanctioned Russian aluminium company Rusal’s $500m 4.85% 2023s are once again trading and holders are expecting a rocky ride as compliance departments clash with analysts over their worth.

The China cross-border interbank payment system (Cips) started 24 hour operations on May 2, the central bank announced. But Swift thinks there is plenty of room to improve China's clearing and settlement infrastructure.

On Wednesday, a syndicate of 17 banks was mandated to help French shopping centre operator Unibail-Rodamco raise €3bn with four tranches of senior bonds. The deal came two weeks after the company sold €2bn of hybrid bonds.

Engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce returned to the European corporate bond markets on Wednesday after a break of nearly five years. The British company sold a €1.1bn dual tranche deal which extended its maturity profile in euros.

The Republic of Angola has released initial price guidance for its dual tranche bond, which a banker away from the deal said looked generous.