UBS

The Asia ex-Japan bond market sprung to life on November 12 with China Huarong Asset Management, China State Construction Engineering Corp and Beijing Properties opening books for dollar bonds, while Korea Housing Finance Corp (KHFC) opted for a covered bond and Malaysia’s Axiata Group, a sukuk.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the Belgian-Brazilian brewer, submitted a final recommended offer for SABMiller on Wednesday, having raised a record $75bn loan to support the transaction.

The Singapore dollar bond market is welcoming a new participant this week with Swiss lender Julius Baer going live on November 11 with an additional tier one trade – the first time a foreign bank is issuing an AT1 in the Lion City.

The new qualified domestic institutional investor (QDII2) scheme may be the missing link that allows global money managers to really tap into China's potential for outward investment. A necessary condition to that strategy, however, is a corporate structure that until recently was barred to asset managers — the wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE).

Koninklijke KPN, the Dutch telecoms company, sold a quarter of its stake in Telefónica Deutschland for €805m on Monday night, but the deal failed to get covered, leaving Citigroup and UBS long.

FIG bankers are expecting some issuers to bring forward plans to print tier two early next year as investors show they are ready to take on higher beta paper.

Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel (BFCM) sold its first Swiss franc bond since 2014 on Monday, as international visitors to the market increase.

UBS met strong demand for its first holdco level senior debt in euros on Monday, with market participants divided on how its pricing compared to opco levels.

Six borrowers raised nearly €5bn in the covered bond market this week, once again surpassing supply expectations. The star attraction, notable for both its size and tenor, was a €1.5bn three year from the Norwegian issuer, Sparebank 1 Boligkreditt.

Several of Europe’s largest banks, including Santander and Credit Suisse, have been raising equity capital this year to satisfy regulators. But FIG ECM specialists believe this is coming to an end. Taking its place will be the re-privatisations of nationalised banks, and on the horizon, a return of mergers among banks. Olivier Holmey reports.

Nineteen eurozone countries with as many legal systems, 23 officially recognised languages, 3,500 banks and just one supervisor. Sceptics say the ECB’s Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) has an impossible task. In the first year alone, it has achieved an enormous amount, but the hard work may be just beginning, writes Virginia Furness.

Market sentiment improved towards the back of last week when some pipelined deals burst into the market, and that sentiment has continued to improve in the early throes of this week.