Santander

The Spanish Treasury is studying the possibility of issuing green bonds — a shift from its previous position on the format — after the country’s government last week outlined a series of measures to decarbonise the economy by 2050. Spain is also adjusting its inflation-linked bond issuance strategy this year. If the sovereign does decide to issue green bonds, it is likely to find strong demand, with one of its own debt issues as well as a returning Spanish region this week being heavily oversubscribed.

Poland is in the market for its most ambitious green bonds yet. It has opened books for two tranches of euro debt, hitting the 10 and 30 year maturity buckets.

PlayTech, the UK-based gambling technology company, announced its second high yield bond issue on Tuesday afternoon, seeking to raise €350m to redeem an out-of-the-money convertible bond issued in 2014. During the roadshow, it confirmed a new contract with UK gaming group GVC, which helped it print tight in a market that was already supportive.

Investors have moved on quickly from the first ever non-call decision on an additional tier one instrument this month, allowing banks to thrive in the new issue market. The feeling among some funds is that any fears about extension risk have simply been overdone.

Spain's no-grow €5bn 15 year syndication on Tuesday was only marginally short of breaking the record order book for a public sector euro benchmark that the sovereign set only last month, despite some investors saying that the deal offered little or no concession.

The European Stability Mechanism on Monday took care of all its first quarter funding needs in one fell swoop, drawing a heavily oversubscribed book with high Asian demand that allowed 2bp of price tightening. On-looking SSA bankers said the deal was a good sign for — and likely gave confidence to — Spain, which is bringing its second syndicated benchmark of the year on Tuesday.

Banks are circling the additional tier one market, looking to replicate very well received transactions from Crédit Agricole and ING Groep this week.

The European Banking Authority has gone to the private sector for its next appointment as chair.

A flood of orders helped ING Groep to price a $1.25bn additional tier one on top of fair value on Tuesday, with the Reg S dollar market back in action after Banco Santander’s landmark extension decision.

Additional tier ones couldn’t have reacted any more calmly to the first ever extension of a deal this week, but the market is still a long way from overcoming its ultimate test.

The bigger surprise in the financial institutions debt market this week was not that Banco Santander decided to extend the life of an additional tier one bond, but rather that the subordinated debt market took the decision in its stride.

UBS is re-balancing its corporate finance business to end its reliance on its Financial Institutions Group with impressive results, writes David Rothnie.