Spain

Spain has submitted an application for more than €20bn from the EU’s Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) fund.

Covered bond issuers using programmes containing a special purpose vehicle (SPV) have more guidance on the treatment of bad loans and protect bondholders further compared with those using integrated templates, Fitch said this week when assessing the risk coronavirus era mortgage payment holidays pose to the asset class.

IAG, the airline holding company which owns British Airways, has launched a €2.75bn (£2.49bn) rights issue to give it enough liquidity to withstand Covid-19 disruption until 2023.

The UK government’s decision over the weekend to reintroduce a quarantine on travellers from Spain is set to make a rights issue far more difficult for International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG), the airline holding company which owns British Airways, according to equity capital markets sources.

EMEA’s equity capital markets were buzzing on Friday morning after Goldman Sachs placed a 13.2m block of shares in Cellnex, the Spanish telecoms tower company, which allowed the company’s largest shareholder to monetise rights that it intends not to exercise in the issuer's forthcoming €4bn rights issue.

Cellnex, the Spanish telecommunications towers operator, has launched a €4bn underwritten rights issue to fund acquisitions.

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure, the New York-listed Spanish infrastructure company focused on renewable energy assets, is the latest company to sell a green convertible bond.

Market participants expect that bank debt issuance activity will slow down in anticipation of earnings season over the next few weeks. But deal arrangers suggest banks will still be keen to access the primary market during this period, should conditions remain favourable.

BBVA has become the first bank to print a green additional tier one (AT1) deal. When it was issued this week, it proved that the demand for socially responsible investments (SRI) extends to the riskiest of asset classes, meaning other banks are certain to bring out their own versions of the trade, writes David Freitas.

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Bankinter continued the additional tier one (AT1) supply spree on Thursday, becoming the third issuer to launch this type of bond this week and receiving praise for the 6.25% coupon it achieved.

BBVA became the first financial institution to issue green debt in additional tier one (AT1) format on Tuesday, launching a bond with a 6% coupon. The Spanish lender left no premium on the table, according to some market participants.