UniCredit

Volkswagen stormed back into bonds on Thursday for the first time since its emissions test cheating scandal 18 months ago. And the €8bn blowout that paid investors a chunky premium to allay their fears about the company is just the start of the firm’s market rehabilitation, writes Michael Turner.

UniCredit has named Andrea Maffezzoni head of strategy and M&A, a role formerly occupied by Marina Natale.

The heightened prices Turkey's banks are having to pay to refinance loans has attracted more banks to the latest syndication, a €100m deal for Isbank AG.

UniCredit’s former head of group finance Waleed El-Amir has left the bank to join advisory boutique Evercore.

Halkbank became the latest Turkish bank to throw its hat into the tier two ring on Wednesday, announcing plans for a three day roadshow in the US and UK.

Volkswagen has returned to the public straight bond markets in its own name for the first time since September 2015, when it was swept from the market by its emissions test cheating scandal. Bond markets being what they are, a multi-billion euro blowout is likely.

Shares in Deutsche Bank, the largest bank in Germany, fell 2.7% on Monday morning after it published its 2016 annual report and launched its €8bn two-for-one rights issue.

WL Bank took advantage of strong funding conditions — and a reverse enquiry — to issue a tightly priced 20 year public sector backed Pfandbrief on Thursday, the longest covered bond from Germany this year. The transaction follows the announcement of plans to merge the cover pools of WL Bank and DG Hyp.

Slovenian steel group, SIJ, has signed its first syndicated loan for €240m, leading the way for more corporates from the country.

Six borrowers announced offerings in the European high yield bond market on Monday as borrowers looked to beat what could have been disruptive Dutch elections two days later.

Shares in Amundi, the French asset manager, closed 4% lower on Tuesday after it announced the terms for its €1.4bn rights issue to partly finance its takeover of Pioneer Investments, the asset management division of UniCredit, for €3.5bn.

Croatia’s revived euro benchmark had received orders of €2.75bn and seen its order books shut by lunchtime Monday with the country having enjoyed a ratings agency boost on Friday to defy any fears of being overshadowed by Kuwait’s sovereign deal, which was also in the market.