UniCredit

The resolution of four small Italian banks has trimmed several basis points off the common equity tier one capital ratios of Intesa Sanpaolo, UBI Banca and UniCredit.

A trio of issuers from Finland and Sweden raised €3.5bn of funding in the covered bond market this week with strong receptions and limited spread concessions.

Public sector borrowers are putting the final touches to their funding programmes for the year amid stable market conditions, but there are few signs that any will pre-fund for 2016 in large size.

Rentenbank equalled its second largest euro benchmark size ever while still managing to tighten pricing with a November 2022 on Tuesday.

An agency is set to round off its funding for the year with a euro benchmark amid solid but quiet market conditions.

Tightly priced and low yielding Pfandbriefe issued this week by HSH Nordbank and Deutsche Hypo received less demand than usual, with HSH failing to attract enough attention to cover its deal.

Amadeus, the Spanish company that provides IT systems to the air travel industry, reaped the rewards of five weeks of patience on Tuesday as its €500m six year no-grow bond brought in an order book of over €4.75bn.

Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhone, the French motorways group, stayed with the defensive tactics of its previous bond issuance on Tuesday, raising a €500m 4.3 year floating rate note.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association’s (ISDA) protocol to allow regulators to temporarily stay contract close-outs now covers an estimated $560bn of cross-border securities financing.

Rumours that the European Central Bank will add German regions to its public sector purchase programme fuelled demand for a State of Hessen benchmark on Thursday, said bankers.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the Belgian-Brazilian brewer, mandated a group of 21 banks to provide its $75bn loan facility, but there was no coordinator as AB InBev took an active role in arranging the transaction.

UniCredit’s new strategic plan means its corporate and investment banking business is under no illusions about its importance to the group’s wider empire, writes David Rothnie.