ABS investors show increased interest in green securitisations to reach EU climate targets
Securitisation is being touted as a tool to help close the yearly investment gap of €180 billion needed to achieve the EU’s climate and energy targets by 2030, as identified in the European Commission’s sustainable finance action plan, which was published last year.

PE firms take hands-on approach to syndication
European private equity firms are building out their debt capital market capabilities in a move which could radically improve information flow.

Prepayments pose reinvestment dilemma for CLO managers
CLO managers globally could be left sitting on piles of cash amid an uptick in loan prepayments. Standard & Poor’s reported that institutional US loan prepayments had hit $26 billion in July, and more recently some widely-held CLO names are set to return principal to lenders, with financial data provider Refinitiv US Holdings and Italian telecom operator Wind Tre taking this route.

Credit traders' kickstand: Europe ascendant as high yield pipeline returns
The high yield bond primary market grinds back into gear this week just as European credit reaches an extreme point of outperformance over the US, and comes on the back of Europe’s busiest week of investment grade issuance in 18 months

Europe and US diverge on covenant lite structures
Direct lending is syphoning away traditional loan supply

Direct lenders accused of exaggerating terms in lender education
Sources say that some direct lenders in Europe are submitting standard indicative lender terms with limited or no internal discussions with their respective credit committees.

Borrowers promise to pay penalty if they breach ESG targets
Loan investors are incentivising companies to improve their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance by linking the financial terms of a loan to the ability of the borrower to meet predetermined sustainability targets.

UK direct lending deal flow picks up with 99 deals in H1, finds GCA Altium
While loan volumes in the UK were much higher than expected, activity in Germany was lower compared to H1 last year, according to the GCA Altium MidCap Monitor Q2 2019

ResponsAbility closes impact securitisation at $175 million
ResponsAbility, a Zurich-headquartered impact assessment manager, has closed a $175 million securitisation of loans to microfinance and SME-finance providers in emerging markets

UK transitions to post-Libor era with array of Sonia-linked deals
The UK’s structured finance market has moved to swiftly embrace the daily compounded benchmark Sonia (Sterling overnight index average) ahead of the 2021 phase out of Libor.

European loan trading: CLO managers snack on Ifco loans
35 CLO managers were holding €364.2 million  €364.2 million of IFCO’s loans in April – all at par

Arrival of five-year bespokes draws in CLO investors
Synthetic bespoke tranches are undergoing a major shift, with dealers projecting five-year business to supersede previously dominant shorter tenors by the end of 2019.

High beta's time to shine in next leg of rally, says BAML
High-beta credits have yet to reward expectations they would lead the market rally in 2019, but this is about to change, according to a research note by Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Index tranche levels spike as investors advance into equity
Trading of credit index tranches is picking up, with some $61 billion worth changing hands in the space during the first quarter, according to data from the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation

Bespoke gains pull CLO buyers as market tipped to hit $100bn
Synthetic bespoke issuance could catch up with the more visible CLO market this year, say structured credit specialists

Europe’s ABS market gets over STS road bump with VW deal
After months of waiting, Europe’s securitisation market saw the first ever deal to be structured as a Simple, Transparent & Standardised (STS) securitisation.

Regulation stifles SRTs, but banks and investors revel in quarter-four outperformance
Over the course of 2018 there was roughly €6.5 billion of issuance in the market for significant risk transfer (SRT) deals, sources say, with the last three months understood to be the busiest quarter on record

Ares and GSO carry unitranches over €1 billion mark
Flush with cash, European direct lending managers have finally passed the milestone one billion unitranche mark this quarter

Spanish bank prices €972 million SRT with triple As paying 31bp
Cajamar Caja Rural, based in southern Spain, has priced a €972.1 million significant risk transfer (SRT), according to market sources

European loan issuance set to decline in 2019, says Moody's
The outlook for European leveraged loan issuance remains strong for next year, according to report by Moody’s, although levels will depend on M&A activity

Kartesia invests in equity of 2018 European CLO
Kartesia has invested in the equity of KKR’s latest European CLO 

Direct lenders flock to Munich as German deal flow picks up
German private debt is attracting a growing number of fund managers. Market sources say that deal flow through the first half of the year was at 65% of 2017’s total and had surpassed the number of private debt deals executed by funds in each of the previous five years

Santander issues £1.1 billion SRT featuring UK project finance loans
Banco Santander has completed a £1.12 billion significant risk transfer through a transaction dubbed Fitzroy 2018-1 CLO

JP Morgan keeps up synthetic CDO momentum
Sources say that JP Morgan priced a $500 million synthetic CDO last month, underlining its position as one of the key deal arrangers in this market