News content

The European Central Bank has cast a shadow over what was a lively equity capital market for the time of year on Thursday, as it opted not to increase the pace of quantitative easing, writes Olivier Holmey.

Corporate bond bankers in Europe have reacted philosophically to Mario Draghi’s underwhelming announcement on European Central Bank monetary policy on Thursday, and are contemplating a quick wind-down to the market before Christmas.

Tradition and Intercontinental Exchange are both making advances in power and energy derivatives, after unveiling initiatives this week.

A trio of Wall Street’s biggest banks led a dash for dollars this week as a positive market backdrop drew a flood of issuance ahead of the year-end slowdown.

In a busy week for block trades in Europe’s equity capital market, Tuesday saw Bank of America Merrill Lynch is in action again, the day after its €750m trade in Safran shares with Barclays.

FIG bankers rejoiced this week as two markets that have been much maligned this year — insurance capital and sterling senior — showed enduring appeal just in time for a year end funding grab.

Markets hiccuped on Thursday as the European Central Bank’s policy announcement failed to live up to hype. But, while investors may not have loved Mario Draghi’s restrained tone, they admit his thinking is sound.

A sharp sell-off in European assets followed the European Central Bank’s meeting on Thursday. Disappointed that the stimulus did not measure up to expectations, SSA bankers said that not only has Draghi damaged investor year-end returns, but also the reputation of the ECB as a credible organisation.

Austrian oil and gas company OMV emerged on Monday with a dual tranche hybrid bond that had been promised since August, but a broader revival for the product may have to wait until next year.

Financial sanctions on Russian entities and other international political tensions have slowed syndicated lending to emerging markets in 2015 and, according to a Loan Market Association poll, the market remains wary of the outlook for 2016.

McDonald's led a headlong rush by high grade US dollar debt issuers to grab investors’ attention before the year-end shutdown and a likely interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.

The UK printed on Tuesday a tap of its 0.125% index-linked Gilt maturing March 2046. The note was sold at the tightest spread to the benchmark since it was first syndicated.