UBS

ICBC Asia made its debut in the additional tier one market on Thursday with a bang, netting $1bn from a deal that boasted the lowest coupon on record for an AT1 in Asia ex-Japan.

Bank of Communications, China’s fifth biggest bank, is mulling an IPO of its investment banking arm in Hong Kong, issuing a request for proposals for a possible $300m listing, sources said.

Two block trades by UniCredit this week, totalling €1.08bn, offered further confirmation that the equity capital market is functioning well, and that there is ample demand for good European stocks, including from US long-only investors.

Italian gaming operator Sisal priced the all-bond funding of its buyout by CVC Capital Partners on Thursday, and brought to life a high yield market still stunned by the Brexit vote.

CVC Capital Partners has proved a source of comfort for leveraged finance investors this year, supporting issuance with numerous buyouts. Czech security software firm Avast is the latest to turn to the market in marketing $1.6bn of loans.

The green bond market is set for some new action with Link Real Estate Investment Trust kicking off a dollar transaction on Thursday.

UniCredit used similar tactics on its accelerated bookbuild sale of 10% of Bank Pekao on Tuesday night to those it had used for Monday’s sale of FinecoBank — and achieved a similar result: multiple times oversubscription, led by one very large anchor order.

Russia's State Transport Leasing Company (STLC) printed the first new Russian quasi-sovereign paper for six years on Tuesday, taking advantage of the recent rally in Russia debt to draw a $2.5bn book for a $500m five year deal.

UniCredit has dominated the headlines again this week, but this time for a better reason. Italy’s largest bank has also been its biggest loser of shareholder value, its shares falling 75% since last summer, as investors have lost trust in the sector.

The renminbi is joining the IMF special drawing rights (SDR) later this year, but that achievement does not mean mission accomplished for China’s authorities. For Beijing to achieve its stated goals of making the RMB a reserve currency and the SDR a real world currency more steps will be needed, according to leading monetary policy experts.

Russia's State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK) has set final pricing for its debut $500m five year bond at 5.95% area, having released guidance at 6.25% area earlier on Tuesday morning in London.

UniCredit’s shares leapt 13.5% today after it declared the beginning of a strategic review of its business after the market close last night. The announcement coincided with the launch of a sale of 10% of one of its finest assets — FinecoBank.