Société Générale

Esoteric names from the FIG market are expected to fill the post-Easter issuance pipeline to take advantage on the constructive market conditions on offer.

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Singapore’s United Overseas Bank sold its debut sustainability bond on Wednesday, raising $1.5bn and notching a number of other firsts with its deal. Morgan Davis reports.

Portugal began the price discovery process for its new 10 year syndicated bond on Wednesday close to fair value in an effort to give as much clarity to investors as possible on the final level, according to lead managers.

Romania this week returned to the international debt markets to issue euro-denominated bonds.

Italy and Portugal are the first two eurozone sovereigns out of the blocks for syndications following the Easter break, with the former looking to extend its curve by a further five years.

The European Investment Bank and Dexia Credit Local were the only two public sector borrowers to sell deals in the primary market this week as issuance wound down ahead of the Easter break.

French insurer Axa issued its inaugural green tier two bond on Wednesday and attracted a peak order book of more than €3.4bn for the €1bn deal.

Dexia Credit Local was able to push the pricing of its new dollar benchmark on Tuesday thanks to pent-up demand for high quality paper in the currency.

Axa is lining up its inaugural green deal in tier two format, becoming the latest financial borrower to combine a subordinated bond with an ESG label.

Verbund, the Austrian electricity company, became the first European issuer to sell a green sustainability-linked bond on Wednesday, combining the benefits of two different approaches to sustainable finance in a single deal.

Europe’s high grade corporate bond market was busy this week, as slightly improved market conditions prompted a diverse set of issuers to lock in funding before the end of the quarter.