UniCredit

European Central Bank president Mario Draghi did not disappoint with his latest burst of stimulus on Thursday — although some public sector bankers felt his latest efforts to boost the eurozone economy could have damaging effects on the SSA bond market.

Berlin Hyp (BHH) issued the first negative yielding fixed rate euro covered bond on Tuesday, days before the European Central Bank lowered the discount rate further into negative territory.

TeamSystem, the Italian business software vendor, has funded the entire €600m of debt for its leveraged buyout by Hellman & Friedman with privately placed bonds — an event some high yield bankers and investors see as impressive, but not necessarily starting a trend.

Southern Gas Corridor Company has started investor meetings for a bond fully guaranteed by Azerbaijan.

The State of North Rhine-Westphalia more than doubled the record size for a green bond from a European sub-sovereign, pricing a deal several basis points inside initial price thoughts on Wednesday.

Issuers lined up to print in euros on Tuesday as a vital European Central Bank meeting loomed later in the week — but bankers were divided as to how much the flurry of deals was down to concerns over the central bank meeting.

Commodities trader Trafigura has tightened pricing by double digit basis points on its European loan refinancing and expects to raise more than $5bn, according to sources.

Ten of the 11 banks that underwrote Saipem’s €3.5bn rights issue sold the bulk of their remaining overhang in the stock in a block trade on Monday night, making a gain. But Banca Imi decided to take the riskier path of selling its holdings by itself at a later date.

All but one of the banks that underwrote Saipem’s €3.5bn rights issue, and were left holding €427m of the Italian oil and gas engineering group’s stock, are selling down their stakes tonight.

Core eurozone issuers are set to pepper the euro curve over the next two days, before all attention turns to a much anticipated European Central Bank meeting on Thursday.

Holding Slovenske elektrarne (HSE), the largest electricity provider in Slovenia, will begin roadshowing its high yield debut bond on Tuesday, as market conditions recover from a bruising start to the year.

Two of Italy’s popolari banks have registered to be listed on the Italian stock exchange and, with two others entering advanced merger talks on Tuesday, the country finally looks to be making headway on the banking reforms passed last year.