Nomura

Ian White, managing director and senior fx options trader at Nomura in New York has left the firm.

Santander returned to covered bonds this week with its first deal in nearly two years which, by virtue of its sheer size and duration, was remarkable. The two tranche deal included a 20 year piece that has not been seen in covered bonds for seven years. This was targeted to asset managers and insurers in the private sector — in sharp contrast to many other deals such as a €250m four year tap from LBBW that the Bundesbank mostly bought. The trades rammed home the distortion the European Central Bank's purchase programme (CBPP3) is causing the covered bond market which market makers said had potential to cause considerable mark to market pain.

Lloyds Bank returned to the Samurai market for the first time in more than three years on Thursday with a ¥48bn ($415m) five year deal.

Spain's Gas Natural issued its first hybrid capital bond on Wednesday, raising €1bn, after a two day roadshow.

CNP Assurances benefited from a lack of insurance supply when selling a perpetual tier two deal on Wednesday, setting the stage for other insurers to tap the market over the coming week.

Ireland took a firm step towards joining the eurozone core this week by extending its curve to 15 years with a bond that market participants said was the clearest sign yet that it was pulling away from the rest of the periphery. But the gap between Europe’s top borrowers and weakest names may be about to narrow further very soon. This could be in response to moves by European Central Bank president, Mario Draghi, who opened the door a little further to full blown quantitative easing.

RAC, the UK car recovery breakdown firm, has allocated its £1.25bn refinancing and recapitalisation loan after flexing the facility’s original issue discount in investors' favour.

The European Central Bank's covered bond purchase programme (CBPP3) turned relative value upside down this week, with a French deal pricing inside a similar Swedish offering, among a crop of four new issues.

The senior market awoke this week following a brief hiatus in the aftermath of the European Central Bank and European Banking Authority’s comprehensive assessment of Europe’s banks. While covered supply has been robust during the intervening period, a lack of recent senior issuance helped Abbey, Citi, DVB Bank and Nomura back into the market.

Senior bank debt issuance picked up on Wednesday after Citigroup and DVB Bank had re-opened the European market on Tuesday after the European Central Bank's Asset Quality Review.

Rating: Baa1/A-/A-

Ireland's longest dated benchmark in five years is more than twice subscribed, allowing leads to set pricing at the tight end of guidance.