UBS

Italian property has been one of the more disappointing sectors in European equity capital markets recently, so it was a welcome change that in a still bare calendar of formally announced IPOs, two of those that have appeared are for Italian real estate investment trusts.

Webhelp, the French call centre operator, was one of three companies who held bank meetings on Tuesday for leveraged loans. The €640m of first lien debt finances Webhelp’s acquisition by KKR from Charterhouse Capital Partners.

BBVA, BFCM and BPCE met with strong investor demand for euro senior unsecured deals on Monday, as peripheral and longer dated debt proved no deterrent to buyers.

Intesa Sanpaolo is set to print the first additional tier one transaction of 2016 after opening the dollar tier two market for European banks last week, while ABN Amro opened the euro bank capital market on Monday.

Westpac New Zealand priced an eight year Swiss franc note on Friday, the largest single tranche trade from a New Zealand bank ever in that currency.

Westpac New Zealand launched an eight year Swiss franc deal on Friday, making it the second international issuer in the market this week.

Jiangsu Hansoh Pharmaceutical Co and Simcere Pharmaceutical Group are looking to raise a combined $2.5bn from Hong Kong IPOs that could launch in the first half of 2016.

South Korea's KEB Hana Bank is set to meet investors next week ahead of its first foray into the dollar bond market since its merger.

Hsin Chong Construction Group is meeting fixed income investors to gauge interest for what would be its second dollar bond.

Credit Suisse and UBS dominated Dealogic’s European FIG bookrunner rankings for 2015, helped by their issuer parents cranking up their issuance of holdco and capital instruments.

Eleven covered bonds were priced in the first week of 2016 despite the onset of European holidays and US non-farm payroll data.

Bank restructurings come in two flavours — the kind where the business stays pretty much the same, and the kind where it doesn’t. 2015 was the year of the latter, as new chief executives, new business models and a pervasive sense of existential doubt hung over investment banking. Owen Sanderson reports