Belgian Sovereign

Italy and Belgium were the latest eurozone sovereigns to build their largest ever order books for syndicated bonds on Wednesday, with the former coming close to breaking the record demand from a eurozone issuer set by Spain on Tuesday.

Spain and Cyprus attracted strong demand for their syndicated bonds on Tuesday, with the former receiving the largest ever order book for a public sector euro benchmark. Italy and Belgium will add to the eurozone sovereign supply on Wednesday after mandating leads for new 30 and 10 year trades, respectively.

Three public sector borrowers announced dollar benchmarks on Monday, rekindling the market after a quiet week.

Belgium and Ireland are looking at increasing the size of their green bonds in the fourth quarter. For Ireland it would be the first tap of its green bond since it was issued in October 2018.

The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), made its Uzbekistani som debut this week to take advantage of funds flowing into EM currencies thanks to low rates in dollars. Elsewhere, euro investors are looking at the ultra-long end of the SSA market.

Maric Post will take over as director of treasury and capital markets after Anne Leclercq departs the Belgian Debt Agency on July 31.

Rating: A2

Région Wallonne almost wiped out its total funding needs for the year with its first set of benchmark and sustainable bonds on Thursday.

Région Wallonne is moving forward with plans to sell its first bonds in benchmark and sustainable format, with initial price thoughts announced on Wednesday for new seven and 15 year bonds.

A French agency and a Belgian sub-sovereign are preparing to issue their first bonds.

The European Investment Bank and Flemish Community brought sustainability-linked transactions on Thursday, with investors piling in despite a busy market elsewhere.

A trio sovereigns went to the MTN market over the past week, including Italy, which issued a yen bond for the first time since 2009. The deal, led by Nomura, was also its first issue in a foreign currency since 2010.