3 February 2012
After three months without issuance from a peripheral European borrower, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo lit up the senior unsecured market this week with a €1.5bn print that was almost twice oversubscribed. But the deal split opinion as to whether it was an example of muscle flexing or a costly piece of braggadocio. read more »
03 February 2012
More dated sub debt deals are on their way, said bankers, after the success of Nordea’s lower tier two issue this week. Some 350 accounts placed more than €4bn of orders for the Swedish bank’s lower tier two bond issue, the first in euros since May 2011.
Analysts believe Banco Santander and BBVA will find the loan provisioning requirements set out by Spain’s new finance minister on Thursday night “painful” — but will manage to cover them this year. But they say the new rules will push more consolidation in Spain’s banking sector.
The strength of the Long Term Refinancing Operation rally was on vivid display this week as Santander shrugged off a heap of negatives to rack up one of the largest ever order books for a covered bond. Despite its flop last time out, a poorly received recent asset liability management (ALM) exercise and the cédulas sector’s eight month washout, the €2bn benchmark restarted Spanish supply in stellar fashion on Wednesday — and paved the way for more risk-on deals.
Another threat to US money market funds’ demand for commercial paper has emerged from the Federal Reserve Board, days after money funds warned about the damage proposed SEC regulation could do to the industry.
In a flurry of activity that offered another glimpse of the spare cash washing around the European banking sector after the ECB’s first Long Term Refinancing Operation (LTRO) in December, Spain’s CatalunyaCaixa and Banco Popular Español launched tender offers this week, buying back ABS, covered bonds and hybrids.
BNP Paribas held firm on Friday amid a bondholder rebellion as investors spurned a cash tender offer it made earlier last week for €3bn of Fortis Bank convertible and hybrid equity-linked securities (Cashes). And when it announced an acceptance rate of 63% on Tuesday, it belied last week’s protest.
Senior unsecured FIG market participants were looking forward to more supply on Friday, after a strong week in the asset class. With recent new issues performing well and many issuers coming out of blackout next week, bankers expected issuers to take advantage of the positive market backdrop.
After three months without issuance from a peripheral European borrower, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo lit up the senior unsecured market this week with a €1.5bn print that was almost twice oversubscribed. But the deal split opinion as to whether it was an example of muscle flexing or a costly piece of braggadocio.
Spain’s new economy minister has set out a €50bn real estate provisioning plan that banks must execute by the end of the year. Luis de Guindos, Spain’s minister for the economy, on Thursday night outlined the plan, which will give banks until the end of the year to increase their provisioning substantially.
Russia’s state owned savings bank Sberbank managed to hit up the market for an additional $250m late on Thursday, having already raised $1.5bn through a dual participation note on Tuesday.
Aegon, the A3/A-/A rated Dutch insurance firm, has switched the denomination of its revolving credit facility, signing a new €2bn five year syndicated loan to replace an outstanding $3bn line due in September.
Market participants on Monday spoke out against Moody’s claim that the European Central Bank’s decision to provide banks with three year funding was credit negative.
Moody's reckons the ECB's long term refinancing operation is credit negative for Europe's banks. It's hard to square this with the relief it is providing the sector, but the agency is right to warn of the dangers of relying on central bank funding.
Deutsche Bank’s corporate banking and securities (CB&S) division has posted its worst quarterly result since the end of 2008, reporting a pre-tax loss of €422m.
Intesa Sanpaolo
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