UK

Belfius Bank and Santander found strong support among bank treasury investors in the euro market this week, helping them to print new preferred senior deals at very low yields.

Foresight Group, the infrastructure private equity company focused on renewable energy, has closed its IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

US private placement bankers in Europe have called on institutional investors to reduce their yield requirements or face another year of losing out on deals to the public markets.

The Prudential Regulation Authority wants UK lenders to carry out “tactical solutions” over the next six months so that they are ready for the possibility of negative rates later this year.

Banco Santander has followed Belfius Bank in launching a very successful new seven year bond this week, as bank treasury accounts lend their support to low yielding preferred senior paper.

The International Development Agency sold a sterling benchmark on Wednesday, raising £1bn with its second benchmark in the currency.

Great Point Entertainment Income Trust, a UK investment trust engaged in film financing, launched a £200m ($273.54m) IPO on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

Companies with high carbon emissions are preparing for the risk that they could have to pay more to access capital markets, if investors and banks retreat from fossil fuel-heavy businesses, and even divest altogether — as Aviva has threatened to do. Some issuers will use investor relations drives and labelled financings, but ultimately they will have to find common ground with investors on how to transition to low carbon.

UK mortgage lender Perenna has completed its first round of private funding and plans to return for more within the next few months, before originating fixed for life mortgages in the second half of the year. That could lead to the first Danish style covered bond issuance in the UK.

Global equity markets were propelled to new all-time highs at the end of last year when various drug companies announced that they were close to releasing vaccines to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. However, with the vaccine roll-out slow, new mutant variants of the virus raging and governments striking a sombre tone, investors need to prepare for the fact that they may have bought in haste.

UBS found room for $5bn of new debt in the dollar market this week, starting with a “phenomenal” result for a new additional tier one (AT1) on Monday and ending with a three-part senior offering a day later.

CaixaBank found €3.7bn of demand for a green senior bond on Tuesday, as investors revealed their hunger for new paper. BayernLB could follow with a green deal of its own against the improving backdrop in euros.