Raiffeisen Bank International AG

ABN Amro and Commerzbank have proven that the additional tier one (AT1) market is wide open for business, after they clocked up more than €17bn of combined demand for their two new deals on Monday.

Barry Callebaut, the Franco-Belgian chocolate maker now registered in Switzerland, launched a Schuldschein on Tuesday offering investors tenors "upon request" alongside two, five and eight year maturities. Robert Bosch did that too, when it reopened the market last month. This is a feature that arrangers say will increase in a post Covid world.

Credit Bank of Moscow, one of the few Russian banks to frequently tap the international syndicated lending market, has raised a loan from a consortium of international banks. The deal comes amid an increasing number of Covid-19 infections being reported in Russia, which is now one of the emerging markets with the fastest-accelerating growth of cases.

This week, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times – and despite volatility caused by the spread of the Covid-19, a trickle of MTN issuance has managed to slip through into the market.

Emerging market bond valuations were in free-fall on Monday, after a collapse in the price of oil gave investors yet another reason to worry about the global economic outlook.

New emerging market bond issues have been assessed on a case-by-case basis this week as the spread of the Covid-19 virus delivered sharp swings in global markets. Some borrowers wanted to forge ahead in case of a further sell-off, while others prefer to wait for a recovery.

New emerging market bond issues are being assessed on a case by case basis as a split between those issuers keen to forge ahead and those preferring to delay emerges.

The Republic of Belarus will roadshow a dollar and euro dual trancher next week, but made it clear in the mandate announcement that there may be a wait before the bond is printed.

Romania sold €1.4bn 2% 2032s and €1.6bn 3.375% 2050s on Tuesday, managing to get away half of the country’s €6bn funding target for 2020 in one swoop.

Two CEEMEA sovereigns are taking the plunge this week — the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with a triple tranche dollar benchmark and Romania with a dual tranche euro bond.

Demand for senior trades from Commerzbank and Raiffeisen Bank International this week reflected a softness in secondary performance, as well as a slowdown in the primary market as European banks enter blackout season.

Danske Mortgage Bank, Santander UK, Raiffeisenlandesbank Hypothekenpfandbrief and UniCredit Bank AG were marketing covered bonds on Wednesday, steering well clear of negative yields by tapping into healthy demand for long dated assets.