Switzerland

Banks have been mandated on several deals due to come in the next few months

Kernkraftwerk Gösgen-Däniken split open a quiet Swiss franc market on Monday as it looked to slip in ahead of the post-summer rush, landing its eight year bond 3bp through fair value.

UBS was hot on the heels of Credit Suisse with a new issuance in the dollar market this week, as banks spy an opportunity to get funding done in early August.

Idorsia, the Swiss biotech company, has turned to the convertible bond market to finance looming product launches and the development of its late-stage drug pipeline.

Reinout Böttcher is leaving UBS, where he was head of global banking for Switzerland, for a vice-chair role at JP Morgan in Zurich.

UBS opened the European bank earnings season on Tuesday with a strong set of results from its M&A and capital markets businesses, which CEO Ralph Hamers seized as an opportunity to play up the importance of talented bankers over the generous application of balance sheet.

Credit Suisse has filled six roles in its sustainability strategy, advisory and finance (SSAF) group, headed by Marisa Drew, including a global head of net zero strategy.

Covered bond primary activity slowed to a trickle in euros on Wednesday as DekaBank issued an oversubscribed sub-benchmark sized five year public sector covered bond amid a pick-up in European Central Bank purchases. At the same time, Muenchener Hyp (MuHyp) tapped the Swiss franc market in the wake of a four part Sfr910m ($992m) deal issued on Tuesday by Swiss Pfandbriefbank.

Commodities company Trafigura’s Singapore arm is making its annual return to the Asian loan market, this time opting for a sustainability-linked facility.

RAG Stiftung, the foundation set up by the German government to finance the discontinuation of coal mining in the Ruhr region, has sold its remaining shares in Stadler Rail, the Swiss maker of rolling stock, via an accelerated bookbuild on Monday evening.

A reverse enquiry from an institutional investor drove Raiffeisen to reopen its Swiss franc additional tier one (AT1) note this week, which was bumped up even further by demand from retail buyers.

Moody’s has published a request for comment regarding a proposed change in its rating methodology that could improve the rating stability of Swiss structured covered bonds. This could in turn give regulators another reason to consider updating the country’s legal framework.