Hybrid capital issuance from banks had been stymied by regulatory uncertainty over the last six months, but a €1bn ($1.38bn) issue from French retail bank BPCE makes Mark Geller, head of financial institutions syndicate at Barclays Capital, our banker of the week.

BPCE, formed from the merger of French mutual banks Caisses d'Epargnes and Banques Populaires in June last year, priced its bond on Wednesday evening last week. Barclays was on the syndicate for the deal along with Credit Suisse and Natixis.