Pre-migration untagged articles

The European Covered Bond Council has put together its new market-makers’ and issuers’ committee, which will advise it on how to react to difficult market conditions.

MTS, the electronic trading system for European bonds, will risk provoking the anger of banks by opening its EuroMTS platform for government bonds to hedge funds.

Norway’s Sparebank 1 Boligkreditt breathed life back into the covered bond market on Monday, successfully launching and pricing its inaugural Eu1.5bn three year deal, the first jumbo since the false start to new issuance at the beginning of the month.

The international central securities depositories Clearstream Banking Luxembourg and Euroclear bank are to launch a fresh effort to standardise issuance and asset serving of international securities.

Société Générale placed the first ever sovereign private Eurobond placements in the Czech koruna market this week, as it brought three Ck2.5bn 10 year tranches of Republic of Italy paper.

LACK of investor demand meant that issuance in the Swiss market was stifled this week, with only KfW issuing a new deal. Investor seminars in Zurich and an investor trip to the Oktoberfest ensured demand for new deals was limited.

It is not very often that Lehman Brothers finds itself at the centre of global media attention, but last week the firm’s third quarter results were awaited with the same anticipation as Elton John concluding a concert with ‘Candle in the Wind’.

Landesbank Baden-Württemberg priced its largest ever jumbo Pfandbrief yesterday (Thursday), a Eu2bn five year public sector issue that reopened the German market and reinforced the recovery in the wider covered bond market.

The private placement MTN market hosted a greater variety of issuance from financial institution borrowers this week, even as public bond sales boomed.

Barely a day goes by without yet another hedge fund running into a brick wall or treading on a landmine. While some funds continue to thrive, such as BlueBay, the most noticeable feature among some of the casualties is their pedigree.