Santander

Europe’s corporate bond market was teeming with life again on Thursday after a brief pause for public holidays as German pharmaceutical company Bayer and UK energy company National Grid drummed up bulging order books in euros and sterling.

Standard Chartered and Crédit Agricole jumped into the long end of the yield curve on Tuesday, as the pair looked to harness the desire for long-dated dollar debt.

Banco Santander has become the 14th primary dealer in the domestic Colombian government bond market, said the finance ministry, representing the first expansion of the sovereign’s market makers since 2016.

Trig, the London-listed renewable infrastructure investment firm, has signed a £500m loan with its margin linked to Sonia rather than Libor, as loans bankers try to encourage borrowers look at their loan documents soon to avoid bottlenecks next year.

European banks passed a real-life stress test in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic threatened to topple the economy. The experience has improved the standing of subordinated debt, which is becoming more important for issuers and investors alike. Frank Jackman reports.

Despite funding stresses in certain Latin American countries, bond markets will continue to help the region with its financing needs. For now, this eases the pressure for reform and fiscal consolidation, but issuers must eventually face up to political and social turbulence. Oliver West reports.

Klépierre, the French shopping mall company, has signed a €1.385bn sustainability-linked revolving credit facility, with the coronavirus pandemic-hit borrower pushing out its refinancing needs to March 2024.

European corporate borrowers glided through their curves this week. With the European Central Bank hitting easing expectations after its meeting on Thursday, syndicate bankers are expecting more deals on screens despite the time of year.

Aroundtown, the Luxembourg-listed real estate company, maintained the trend for negative premiums in December’s buzzing corporate bond market, but syndicate bankers say that any disappointment from the European Central Bank when it meets tomorrow could slam the issuance window shut.

European banks will have longer than expected to correct the fallback language in their dollar-denominated additional tier ones (AT1s), now that dollar Libor has been given an extra 18 months to live.

Santander UK completed the first consent solicitation for moving a sterling additional tier one note away from Libor to referencing Sonia on Thursday, setting a precedent for other banks to follow.

Banks bombarded the dollar market this week with a rich variety of trades in what promises to be a busy run-in to the end of the year with investors still in the hunt for primary deals.