Senior unsecured issuance from European banks so far this year has already reached €31bn, outstripping the total for the whole of the second half of last year, according to Morgan Stanley research published yesterday.

The European Central Bank's provision of three-year money via its long-term refinancing operation, or LTRO, has sparked demand for senior bank paper, the bank's analysts said. They point to recent issuance from peripheral issuers such as Intesa Sanpaolo in unsecured format and Santander with a covered bond as evidence of banks' broadening access to the debt capital markets.