UniCredit

Covered bond spreads are so tight that there is almost no scope for secondary performance, bankers have warned. “Core markets are in a zone of low oxygen,” one said on Tuesday, as KBC Bank priced a deal within a few basis points of Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen and Deutsche Kreditbank.

The covered bond primary market lived up to supply expectations this week with five issuers tapping the market in the first two days of the week. BNP Paribas stood out, showing the strength of its brand, and the market, by pricing the tightest French covered bond deal of the year.

Corporate bond issuance is set to get busier again in Europe next week, bankers say, with a drive-by deal also possible on Friday.

Private placements from peripheral European financial institutions will dominate the market in the coming weeks as investors hunt for yield, according to MTN dealers. These banks could steal the spotlight from Nordic financial institutions, which have dominated the market this week.

Private placements from peripheral European financial institutions will dominate the market in the coming weeks as investors hunt for yield, according to MTN dealers. These banks could steal the spotlight from Nordic financial institutions, which have dominated the market this week.

UniCredit has announced a new head of its financial institutions group, opening up a space for a co-head of global capital markets.

UBS proved that appetite for risky, deeply subordinated bank capital instruments was impervious to the travails of emerging markets this week, raking in over €10bn of orders for its 12 year non-call seven tier two Coco and setting the stage for more euro supply from BBVA.

UBS shrugged off the naysayers’ talk of emerging markets contagion and closed FIG markets on Thursday, launching the year’s first euro-denominated contingent capital deal and raking in almost €10bn of orders by lunchtime.

UniCredit has hired Konrad Merkofer and Anshuman Mehta as MTN dealers based in London. They are the first MTN bankers for UniCredit to be based in the city. They will supplement the team based in Munich.

As Italy at last begins to confront its economic problems, investment banks have turned bullish on the country, writes David Rothnie.

Jean-Pierre Mustier has made UniCredit a slimmer and meaner corporate and investment banking operation by getting different product and coverage teams to work together. Now all he needs is a recovery in European capital markets and advisory volumes. David Rothnie reports.