Luxembourg

NordLB’s Luxembourg subsidiary issued its longest maturity covered bond on Tuesday and paid a paltry premium, but the double digit pick-up failed to draw much excess demand.

The Luxembourg-based producer of roof products, Braas Monier, proved there is still strong investor demand for double-B rated paper in the high yield market as it tightened pricing from guidance on Wednesday.

Westpac New Zealand issued a comfortably oversubscribed €750m five year covered bond on Tuesday and priced at the tightest spread ever for a New Zealand covered bond. At the same time, NordLB’s Luxembourg subsidiary issued a less well subscribed €500m seven year.

The Luxembourg subsidiary of NordLB will issue its longest covered bond yet, and one that should offer a double digit return, though covered bonds issued by German banks invariably price and trade well through mid-swaps.

The wave of rights issues and capital raisings in the market this summer is so far going smoothly, with good news this week for Banco Popular Español, as its shares and rights perked up in trading.

HLD Europe, a small and recently founded private equity firm incorporated in Luxembourg and backed by wealthy French investors, will raise up to €40m through a debut five year Euro private placement.

ArcelorMittal’s $3.015bn rights issue, as part of its $4bn debt cutting plan, was completed oversubscribed, the steelmaker said on Monday, despite the gloomy outlook for the European steel industry.

ArcelorMittal bowed to the inevitable and announced a $3bn rights issue last Friday morning, after its credit spread had widened to distressed levels as global steel prices slumped. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Crédit Agricole are global coordinators.

Anoa Capital, a Luxembourg-based boutique investment bank, is building out an origination team following the hire of Mike Turnbull as head of origination.

FMS Wertmanagement has launched two separate tender offers on the Irish Stock Exchange for euro, swiss franc, US and Canadian dollar denominated covered bonds issued by DEPFA Bank and DEPFA Pfandbrief Bank SA.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Europe) has received approval from the Luxembourg regulator for its ICBC Credit Suisse S&P China 500 Index Fund this week. The fund is the first Ucits product using Luxembourg’s own quote under the RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) scheme.

In the last RMB round-up of 2015, HSBC became the first foreign bank to issue RMB-denominated CDs to corporates in China, Hungary plans RMB bonds in 2016 and Russian bank VTB saw a big boost to its RMB business in 2015. Plus, a recap of GlobalRMB’s top stories this week.