UBS

Swiss giant voted the best for equity research & sales in Asia’s largest equities poll.

European corporates have hit the market with a series of long dated private medium term notes, following a burst of MTN trades last week.

Covered bonds issued this week from banks in Italy and Portugal were a roaring success from the sellers’ point of view. But none could have been done without the European Central Bank’s help.

Equity block trade activity has picked up this week, after a six day lull, with a rash of trades helped by a stable stockmarket. On Thursday night, two trades were launched, after a buoyant afternoon for stocks since Mario Draghi, European Central Bank president, raised hopes of further monetary easing at a press conference.

Wells Fargo printed an impressive second Swiss franc deal for the year on Thursday, attracting strong demand not only from retail and private banking investors but also asset managers, insurance and pension funds.

The Swiss Federal Council has announced a higher leverage ratio of 5% for Credit Suisse and UBS, as well as outlining how it plans to bring in total loss absorbing capital (TLAC) rules for the two banks.

China Reinsurance priced Hong Kong’s third largest IPO of the year at the top of the range to raise HK$15.58bn ($2.01bn), drawing an outpouring of interest from global investors. The trade has buoyed hopes among ECM bankers, as they seek to put a sullen summer behind them.

Assicurazioni Generali SpA brought made periphery central on Tuesday, taking advantage of an otherwise empty session to secure strong demand for its tier two paper.

China Reinsurance priced Hong Kong’s third largest IPO of the year at the top of the range to raise HK$15.58bn ($2.01bn), drawing an outpouring of interest from global investors. The trade has buoyed hopes among equity capital markets bankers as they seek to put a sullen summer behind them.

KfW has found stronger than expected demand after tapping the belly of its Kangaroo bond curve, as a Canadian province printed at the long end in the format.

Senior SSA bankers are fretting that situations such as this week's clash between two Dutch agencies, which drove one of the pair to pull its deal, could become unavoidable, writes Craig McGlashan.

SNS Bank raised hopes of more capital issuance when it named leads for a euro denominated tier two transaction on Thursday but the trade may be a tough sell.