Covered Bonds

Eika Boligkreditt this week placed the most deeply negative yielding non-German covered bond since credit market volatility spiked two weeks ago. The deal, issued on Thursday, will help participants gauge just how far spreads have moved, setting the market up for more active issuance in March when demand is expected to materialise on the back of a considerable widening in the Bund/swap spread.

Luminor Bank attracted strong demand for its debut covered bond on Wednesday, the first under Estonia’s legal framework and the first from the Baltic region. Despite a negative reoffer yield, it attracted a higher subscription ratio than any other five year euro benchmark issued this year.

Commerzbank reopened the covered bond market on Tuesday by pricing its largest Pfandbrief in a decade, following a meltdown in global finance last week.

Luminor Bank is expected to issue its debut covered bond after successfully concluding a roadshow this week. The deal will be the first Baltic covered bond under the Estonian legal framework.

The negative impact of the new coronavirus on Italian covered bonds and CMBS is limited so far, said Moody’s and DBRS in reports published on Friday and Monday. But if the outbreak spreads, the ability to repay covered bonds would be impeded with serious consequences.

Nomura's head of sovereign, supranational and agency, covered bonds and financials trading has left the bank.

Spreads on covered bonds are likely to gap a few basis points wider when the market reopens for business. There was no issuance this week amid fears about the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus, but a German issuer could land a benchmark deal if government agencies are able to lay the groundwork in the primary market, bankers said on Friday.

Financial markets weakened further on Thursday, as the economic impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus epidemic scotched any chance of primary market activity, said bankers. A period of stability is necessary before new issuance can restart, they said, at which point covered bonds will be the product of choice.

Banks are delaying their plans to raise funding in the euro market, as credit spreads drifted wider on news about the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

UK covered bonds looked cheap, said traders on Tuesday, especially relative to Canadian and Australian alternatives. Their views followed a report from Moody’s which said on Monday that UK banks’ credit fundamentals were resilient and their covered bond ratings well protected.

Covered bonds were steady on Monday, with spreads reacting stoically in the face of mounting volatility in the credit and equity markets, which were hit by fears over the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus. But with key covered bond investors only expected to return to their desks on Wednesday, following Germany’s carnival season, market participants remain braced for a delayed reaction in the asset class.

Intense demand in the Swiss franc bond market for any asset with a positive yield — or even anything yielding more than the penal negative rates on cash — gave a varied group of issuers this week execution that pushed the boundaries — bigger, faster and tighter.