Société Générale

With regulation of the leveraged finance market in the US biting ever harder into banks' freedom of action, high yield market participants in Europe are beginning to look ahead to a future in which regulation could come to Europe, too.

Barclays Bank re-opened the primary covered bond market on Monday by issuing a £1bn ($1.51bn) three year sterling benchmark, and was followed by a pair of Canadian borrowers.

The senior FIG market’s new year surge accelerated on Thursday, with another five new issues announced in the wake of Wednesday’s successful prints. Attractive new issue premiums have kept demand high for senior unsecured prints, according to syndicate managers.

Attractive levels helped drive demand for the first wave of floating rate notes to hit the Euromarket this year on Wednesday, as Bank of Nova Scotia, Rabobank and Société Générale all issued floating rate trades.

Société Générale has hired two bankers, including a Bank of America Merrill Lynch managing director, in new roles to its equity platform in Germany and Austria, as part of a plan to strengthen corporate finance capabilities in Europe.

The Credit Guarantee Investment Facility (CGIF), added Indonesia’s Astra Sedaya Finance to its guarantee portfolio, making it the fifth transaction for the CGIF this year.

Terna — Vattenfall — Gamesa

French engineering and construction services firm Spie this week cut margins on its €625m 4.5m year bullet term loan E and let another bank onto its arranging ticket.

Louis Dreyfus Commodities Metals Suisse, a subsidiary of Louis Dreyfus Commodities, has signed an $800m dual tranche loan with a group of 46 banks.

Standard Bank — Bulgaria

Two subsidiaries of Gunvor Group have signed a $1bn revolving credit facility with a syndicate of 25 banks, down from 38 on its $1.5bn loan a year ago.

French investment company Wendel issued a €200m tap of its October 2024 bond on Wednesday, and has reduced the amount of its revolving credit facilities.