VTB Capital

Russian Railways (RZD) is weighing up the first rouble Eurobond for several years as low global yields boost support for rouble denominated debt.

Russia wasted no time reopening its 2026s after the US Federal Reserve left rates unchanged on Wednesday. Now Euroclearable, the tap is expected to achieve plenty of demand from investors who didn’t play the first time round, but some say a moral dilemma remains.

O1 Properties printed the first syndicated international deal from the Russian property sector on Tuesday. While lead bankers acknowledged it was not an easy deal, the issuer was able to increase it from the planned $300m to $350m.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has penalised Russia’s VTB Bank and its London-based VTB Capital investment banking subsidiary over what the Commission called "fictitious" and "non-competitive" block trades of Russian ruble/US dollar futures contracts.

In this round-up, Stock Connect southbound flows pick up considerably, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) introduces an expanded RMB clearing and depository facility, and RMB clearing in Hong Kong increases in August. Plus, a recap of our coverage this week.

Russian broker BCS Global Markets has hired two senior bankers to join its management team.

In this round-up, a third batch of free trade zones (FTZs) get set to be rolled out soon, Hong Kong RMB deposits reach a three-year low, and the RMB qualified foreign institutional investor (RQFII) scheme adds two in Singapore. Plus, a recap of GlobalRMB's stories this week.

Loan bankers expect more activity from Russian borrowers in the final months of the year, as Norilsk Nickel prepares to come to the market and rumours circulate of a large M&A financing.

OCI Nitrogen, the subsidiary of fertiliser giant OCI, has signed a €550m credit agreement with 17 banks, 10 of which are new lenders.

Russian steelmaker Evraz has amended its loan agreements to prevent it from breaching covenants as volatile commodity prices hit earnings.

Borrowing conditions for Russian issuers are the best they have been since 2013 and as changes to onshore funding conditions push more borrowers offshore, several corporates as well as the sovereign are expected to raise international money ahead of the US elections in November, according to DCM heads at VTB and Sberbank.

Six foreign investors have become the first to gain unrestricted admission to the China interbank bond market (CIBM), according to a recently published list.