UniCredit

Norilsk Nickel opened books on a seven year benchmark bond on Tuesday morning, which should help answer a key question on the minds of bankers and prospective borrowers — just what do Russian corporates have to pay to come to market?

Vitol, the Switzerland-headquartered oil trader, has signed its annual loan refinancing, increasing the loans from $7.5bn to $8bn.

Oil trader Vitol is expected to finish its annual financing of flagship loans by Wednesday, according to a banker on the deal.

Commodity trader Gunvor has launched its $1bn annual loan refinancing, following a deal for its Asian subsidiary that doubled in size after strong demand from lenders.

KfW

The euro market’s strength over dollars is impelling public sector borrowers to line up the currency for rare or even debut visits — and there are strong signs this opportunity could last longer than earlier windows.

The Province of British Columbia brought an inaugural euro benchmark on Thursday, as a supranational issuer reopened a green bond in the currency.

Hapag-Lloyd, the German container shipping company, signed a $372m 12 year loan facility on September 30, to finance the purchase of five new container ships.

Turkey’s Yapı Kredi Bank has signed a $1.2bn-equivalent one year loan, leaving only Garanti left to come in the refinancing cycle for large Turkish banks.

UniCredit has hired Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena’s former chief financial officer, who resigned from the troubled lender last month.

The increasing attractiveness of euros over dollars has led one public sector borrower to mandate for its first ever benchmark in the currency — and more debut issuers could follow.

A German agency has drawn over €7.5bn of orders for a euro benchmark despite offering a negative yield — leaving bankers puzzled over why no other issuers are hitting screens in the currency.