Luxembourg

Bevco, the Luxembourg-based investment company that is the third largest shareholder in Anheuser-Busch InBev, made its corporate bond debut on Friday with a benchmark five year deal that won a warm reception from investors.

Renminbi bullishness has served Luxembourg well. The tiny country has enjoyed substantial China-related fund flows in 2017, largely thanks to a wider offering of investments, Marc Andre Bechet, director of legal and tax at the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (Alfi), told GlobalRMB.

International investors increase their stake in Chinese bonds and equities, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) records the second highest trading volume for its USDCNH futures, and Luxembourg Stock Exchange promotes green bonds issued by Agricultural Development Bank of China (ADBC).

The finance ministry in Luxembourg has published a draft covered bond law to finance renewable energy infrastructure loans. But there could be limited demand to use the framework, and much depends on new European rules coming later this year.

A widening in dollar swap spreads since the end of last week should help support a trio of dollar deals on screens for Wednesday’s business, said SSA bankers.

Sparebank 1 Boligkreditt has mandated lead managers for a roadshow to market it first green covered bond. The news comes amid German press articles suggesting lawmakers in Luxembourg are set to propose a green covered bond framework. BayernLB is also lining up a vanilla 10 year Pfandbrief for execution on Monday.

KfW and Dexia Crédit Local are first out the blocks in what looks set to be a busy euro market for public sector borrowers this week.

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg could opt to bring a green bond if it decides to come to market in 2018, GlobalCapital can reveal.

The European Investment Bank proposed today to European finance ministers to set up a new subsidiary, open to new shareholders, other than the EIB's existing owners, the European Union member states.

Demand from international investors to participate in Bond Connect is strong – with Ireland and Luxembourg-registered funds set to be the next group to join in once real-time delivery versus payment is introduced later this year, two bankers told the IFLR Asia Capital Markets Forum on Tuesday.

The leveraged loan market is approaching Christmas on course to beat last year’s issuance, particularly for financing of new buyouts.

China and Luxembourg made their first collaboration in equities on September 28, launching a green stock index. But experts say that while indices such as this are necessary for Chinese green finance to grow, they are not sufficient to ensure its success.