Banks Are at the Heart of a Revival in European Bond Sales

The Credit Agricole SA logo sits on signs outside branch of the bank in Paris, France, on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016. JPMorgan Chase & Co., HSBC Holdings Plc and Credit Agricole were fined a total of 485.5 million euros ($521 million) for rigging the Euribor benchmark as European Union antitrust regulators wrapped up a five-year investigation into the scandal. Photographer: Christophe Morin/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

Priscila Azevedo Rocha, Bloomberg News

Aug 18, 2022

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(Bloomberg) -- Banks and financial institutions are leading the revival of bond offerings in Europe’s debt market. 

Borrowers including Credit Agricole SA, Banco Santander SA and Lloyds Banking Group Plc account for over 80% of all the bonds being offered this week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The bank-led deluge is lifting sales out of their worst summer slump since at least 2014. 

The pick-up in offerings from the financial sector comes as banks adjust to the end of the pandemic era’s cheap central bank loans, which allowed them to borrow at even lower rates than debt markets. Banks need to raise capital to fund loan growth and to comply with regulatory requirements.

To be sure, financial issuers have been forging ahead on the bond-issuing charts in 2022, dominating weekly sales 14 times this year. Deals are 20% higher than they were at the same point last year, rising to the equivalent of at least 356 billion euros ($361 billion), according to data compiled by Bloomberg.  

ING Groep NV, Nordea Bank Abp and Svenska Handelsbanken AB have added to the sales of new bonds this week. 

 

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