Covered Bonds

Deutsche Bank plans to sell a structured conditional pass-through (CPT) covered bond that is packed with commercial mortgages and has a double-A rating. The collateral-efficient funding makes perfect sense for the issuer and, in a negative yield environment, it could also potentially be interesting for certain investors.

Sparebank 1 Boligkreditt (Spabol) took advantage of positive swap yields to issue a well-subscribed €1bn 10 year this week. Danmarks Skibskredit and mBank are likely to follow soon, having each mandated lead managers for covered bond roadshows.

Leads on Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s two part dollar and euro covered bond were criticised for not being transparent with the order book update, which was expressed without giving the currency of the demand, but in the final analysis, the sale of the high yielding euro portion went better than expected.

Luminor Bank is likely to issue the debut Estonian covered bond in the first quarter of 2020 according to the bank’s head of treasury, Max Ehrengren. Although the programme will have capacity to issue deals secured on Lithuanian and Latvian assets, the inaugural transaction will be exclusively secured on Estonian assets.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) is expected to open order books on Tuesday for a dollar and euro covered bond. Deutsche Kreditbank will follow with its social Pfandbrief on Wednesday. Credit Mutuel Arkea will see investors with plans to issue its first public sector covered bond.

The covered bond market is likely to get its first glimpse of renewed European Central Bank participation in the primary market next Wednesday, which could help crystalise opinions on the spread outlook for the product.

Negative rates are expected to persist in covered bonds, forcing investors to widen their search for value. And with spreads likely to tighten as the European Central Bank ramps up buying from November, some are looking to local currency Nordic markets.

Deutsche Kreditbank (DKB) has mandated leads for a roadshow ahead of a planned €500m Blue Social Pfandbrief that will finance public water and waste management facilities, to be issued under the bank’s existing social bond framework.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was quick to take advantage of a favourable swing in the sterling-dollar basis swap, to issue its debut Sonia-linked covered bond on Monday, pricing the deal flat to fair value and tighter than where it could have printed in dollars or euros. The scale of demand would have allowed for a much larger deal, suggesting good potential for follow-on supply.

The increasingly obvious threat of climate change is leading central banks into new territory, as they begin to analyse the risks it poses to the financial system. It is stretching them intellectually and posing new questions about how they interpret their mandates, and whether they can lead society or must travel at its pace.

The recent bond market sell-off has provided an opportune window for issuers to bring positive yielding deals, boosting demand for SSAs and covered bonds. It’s difficult to imagine this move will prove anything other than temporary, suggesting hesitant issuers should seize the opportunity before it disappears.

Argenta Spaarbank’s trade this week was a warning to smaller banks about the importance of good pricing and roadshows in selling bonds. But even for those issuers willing to heed those lessons, it may already be too late to issue debt, writes David Freitas.