UniCredit

Issuance in the financial institutions bond market had a preferred senior flavour this week, with issuers finding this the most cost-effective funding compared with other asset classes. In addition, some of them can use it to fulfil regulatory requirements.

On a busy day for corporate bond issues, with prestigious competing deals including from Nestlé, Swisscom is nevertheless hogging attention with its debut green bond, which comes alongside another green debut, for power networks group Eurogrid.

Nordea Bank and Erste Group Bank were marketing preferred senior bonds on Wednesday, finding demand in the seven year part of the curve following a flurry of five year deals earlier this week.

When revealing its first quarter results on Wednesday, UniCredit said it would be updating its freshly launched Team 23 plan in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, which has dented profitability.

High grade bond investors had a plethora of trades to pick from on Wednesday, as corporate bankers say May is shaping up to be a breakneck month for issuance.

Helaba and OP Corporate Bank each took a plunge into the preferred senior bond market on Tuesday, with spreads in the asset class having outperformed other bank funding products in recent weeks.

A bevy of high grade corporate bonds hit screens on Tuesday, as Europe’s syndicate bankers said that “no one cares” about the German Constitutional Court verdict throwing into question the Bundesbank's ability to take part in the eurozone's quantitative easing.

Banco Santander and Rabobank led senior bond supply in Europe this week, both issuing well-received non-preferred deals while Crédit Mutuel Arkéa went for the preferred format. National champions and other strong banks are lining up to issue while market conditions are conducive for deals, but lesser credits remain on the sidelines.

The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia made its first visit to the offshore renminbi market earlier this week, continuing this year’s SSA dim sum shopping spree.

Crédit Mutuel Arkéa paid a 'generous' 7bp of new issue premium for a preferred senior bond on Tuesday, taking advantage of a quiet market to attract attention from investors.

The coronavirus pandemic is shaking up the competitive landscape in capital markets, as some firms find it harder to commit to deals — but there are winners, too, and one of the most notable cases is BNP Paribas’s presence in the syndicated loan market.

Firms can spend vast amounts of time window-dressing their balance sheets to look the best they possibly can within the limits of reporting regulations. Within those limits, everything goes.