As we approach the end of 2023 we look at the most active issuers across the main European markets based on SRP data.

J.P. Morgan has replaced BNP Paribas as the top issuer group by issuance in Europe year-to-date. The US bank issued 202,699 structured products across Germany (196,811), Switzerland (6,542), Finland (six), Italy (five) and Denmark (one).

The products in Germany are primarily warrants or certificates listed on the Stuttgart Stock Exchange, covering a total of 756 underlying assets led by the DAX. Nearly of them were also issued in Austria. The US bank’s issuance in Germany was a 47.7% climb from 2022, according to SRP data.

Its Swiss issuance are dominated by over-the-counter (OTC) certificates, featuring buffer and worst-of payoffs and single share or share basket underliers.  

In Finland, five out of the six structured notes together posted € 2.2m with an average tenor of five years. The underliers used are the Markit iTraxx Europe Crossover, 12-month Euribor, Nasdaq 100 Notional Net Return EUR ER Index, Euronext Global Health Care 50 EW ESG Decrement 5% Index and Markit CDX North America High Yield.

Meanwhile, the five products traded in Italy are single stock-linked autocallable certificates on the Vinci, Enel, BNP Paribas, Intesa SanPaolo and Generali. With a three-year tenor, the sole product in Denmark was sold DKK45m by Jyske Bank in October, linked to Novo-Nordisk ADR.

The runner-up, BNP Paribas, also has a significant presence in the German listed market with 185,025 products launched YTD, despite a 7.7% decline from 2022.

The French bank’s issuance across European markets include Switzerland (3,413), France (935), Italy (714), UK (65), Poland (51), Finland (44), Sweden (32), Belgium (19), Ireland (12), Spain (10), Norway (six), the Netherlands (two) and Denmark (two).

In its home market, the issuance was predominantly based on autocallable structures listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, 46 of which have an additional look-back feature. The Athena Premium linked to Mercedes is the only product with an airbag mechanism.

On the underlying side, the issuance linked to the 30Y EUR Constant Maturity Swap Rate has risen to 37 from 10 compared with 2022. Meanwhile, the adoption of decrement indices, which have been particularly popular in the French market over the past few years, has slowed down at BNP Paribas. 

In 2022, the Bloomberg Luxury 2021 Decrement 50 Point EUR Index, S&P Euro 50 Equal Weight 50 Point Decrement Index (Series 2) and Solactive France 20 Equal Weight NTR 5% AR Index were linked to 47, 38 and 33 products issued, respectively.

In contrast, the Bloomberg Transatlantic Titans 40 Decrement 50 Points Index was the only decrement play seen in the top 10 underliers used by the French bank, on the back of 49 issuance YTD.

The declined use of decrement indices is also reflected in the total issuance in the Franch market. In 2022, 1,327 products were issued on decrement indices, including 407 with an additional ESG layer. YTD, that issuance has dropped to 943, including 151 products with the ESG feature.

 Société Générale closes the top three issuer ranking for Europe, having issued 177,224 structured products in Europe YTD.

Besides the 154,111 listed products in Germany, the French bank has posted 18,821 products in its home market; 3,446 products in Switzerland; 452 structures in Italy; 160 in Portugal; 111 in the Netherlands and Belgium and was also active in the UK, Poland and Finland YTD.

In France, the offerings comprise 18,106 warrants listed on Euronext, 731 notes and 330 unit-linked insurance plans listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

For the Luxembourg-listed products, the most widely used underliers include the Eurostoxx 50 (59 products), 30Y EUR Constant Maturity Swap Rate (56) and 5Y EUR Constant Maturity Swap Rate (52).

The top 5 league table in Europe is completed by Vontobel which took the fourth place on the back of 152,902 issuance YTD, mostly in Switzerland; followed by Unicredit, which issued 751 products in Italy and 701 products in Luxembourg as well as 116,105 listed in Germany.