Covered Bonds

An improvement in the cross-currency basis swap has made dollar funding look more attractive to covered bond issuers, but this is not expected to lead to higher supply with bank senior unsecured dollar paper looking the more compelling option.

Citi has taken market share from other banks in the past year to become one of only four that account for 60% of all secondary market covered bond volume traded on Bloomberg so far this year, thanks to a combination of devoting balance sheet to trading and having the appetite to take risk.

Spanish Cédulas reform has been widely anticipated for years. However, whether Spain is ready to execute the sweeping reforms necessary to bring the regime into line with the European Union’s covered bond directive remains to be seen, as the impact of the coronavirus risks diverting attention.

Nomura has ambitions to improve its covered bond market making presence, but it has a long way to go before getting close to the top, where Citi, Santander, and JP Morgan all occupy a clear lead, according to investors.

Lloyds has bought back a small amount of sterling covered bonds on a bi-lateral basis. Most investors that wanted to hand back bonds will have already done so in its previous public tender offer.

French banks have been among the most active issuers of covered bonds so far this year but, with the pace of mortgage origination expected to slow and deposit inflows rising, further supply is less certain with pre-funding for next year becoming an option with doubts over the longevity of the prevailing strong market conditions.

Overcollateralisation (OC) levels have increased on covered bond pools since last year for European issuers, Fitch Ratings said this week. But while issuers in some countries, like the UK, showed a rise above the average, borrowers that have participated in central bank funding, like those in Germany, have managed to keep OC levels down.

Danish covered bond auction season is underway with Nykredit and Nordea announcing sales. August’s auctions also provide the last opportunity to buy certain 30-year callable bonds, of which one is the largest covered bond ever issued.

European Central Bank covered bond buying and mounting covered bond redemptions will exacerbate a technical squeeze — but with Bunds set to underperform swaps, issuers cannot afford to be complacent.

The refurbishment of existing housing stock promises to deliver big strides in cutting global carbon emissions and will provide issuers with a large new stream of green collateral to issue green covered bonds.

Just a few few votes separate the leading contenders in some of the categories in GlobalCapital’s Covered Bond Awards 2020 survey and, with the outcome uncertain, market participants that have not voted yet are encouraged to do so soon.

The European Commission’s proposed amendment to the Liquidity Coverage Ratio Delegated Act suggests covered bonds, such as those issued by NordLB Luxembourg and others, could be excluded, which could extinguish banks’ demand for them. However, it is likely that a solution referencing the covered bond directive will be found.