Spain

Almirall, the Spanish pharmaceuticals company, has issued its first convertible bond with an equity-neutral structure, having attracted “strong outright demand” from institutional investors, according to a banker on the deal.

The equity capital market has virtually closed for the year with work focusing on planning deals for 2019, said bankers, although some deals are still getting done.

Repaying funding received under the European Central Bank’s targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTROs) is likely to raise funding costs but, as most Iberian banks have made plans, refinancing risks are limited, according to Moody’s.

In this round-up, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) published 18 new regulations for foreign banks in China, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has not injected money through reverse repo for a number record number of days and Spain and China sign MoU for closer financial collaboration and potential Panda bonds.

Banco de Sabadell broke open the market for subordinated bank debt on Thursday, taking advantage of a steady improvement in conditions throughout the week.

Guarantor: Kingdom of Spain

Instituto de Crédito Oficial (Ico) is eyeing up its first ever green bond in 2019 following a series of social bonds.

Solarpack Corp Tecnologica, the Spanish solar power generation company, has begun bookbuilding for its €101m IPO on the Spanish Stock Exchanges after the deal prospectus was approved by market regulator CNMV on Tuesday.

Instituto de Crédito Oficial, already well established in the social bond market, is planning to broaden its socially responsible investment offering with its first ever green bond next year.

A pair of socially responsible investment deals from public sector borrowers received mixed views on Monday from on-looking SSA bankers. Instituto de Crédito Oficial was able to tighten its spread by 3bp for its first syndication of 2018, while Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten returned for its second sustainability bond of the year.

Liberbank plans to issue its first covered bond, a transaction that will help refinance maturing debt borrowed under the European Central Bank's second Targeted Longer-Term Refinancing Operations (TLTRO). Many other banks face a similar problem, but seem to be ignoring the €399bn maturity wall that is fast approaching, writes Bill Thornhill.

Liberbank plans to issue its first covered bond, Danske Bank in Finland is set to issue its first deal in three years and UniCredit Austria has announced a roadshow hot on the heels of a Pfandbrief issued by the German subsidiary.