Covered Bonds

Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall (BSH) could soon become the first German Building Society to issue a benchmark Pfandbrief. GlobalCapital speaks to Rainer Eichwede, head of finance controlling at BSH, at the 13th LBBW European Covered Bond Forum in Mainz.

NordLB’s Luxembourg subsidiary extended its covered bond curve with a well-received five year public sector backed deal on Wednesday. But NordLB’s capital problems weighed on the performance of a covered bond deal earlier in the week from Deutsche Hypo, another of its subsidiaries.

The German lower house has approved an amendment to Pfandbrief legislation that should ensure UK assets remain eligible in German Pfandbriefe. Had the amendment not been passed, overcollateralization ratios of some Pfandbriefe would have fallen sharply.

NordLB’s Luxembourg subsidiary extended its covered bond curve on Wednesday with an well received five year public sector backed deal. The bonds offered a very attractive spread for a deal from a core European jurisdiction, ensuring that demand from a diverse audience was quick to build.

The development of a harmonised European covered bond legal framework hit a new milestone on Tuesday after an agreement was reached by the European Parliament and member states on the covered bond directive, paving the way for final approval in a few weeks.

Covered bonds issued by Intesa Sanpaolo, Axa Bank and Aktia on Tuesday “flew out the door”, according to leads, with the depth and breadth of demand surpassing expectations. The superb conditions may not last, but exuberance is expected to prevail for now.

Saddled with the problems of its parent group and in the absence of a top rating, Deutsche Hypo had to settle for what it could get in the market on Monday. The fact that it raised €625m of 10 year funding at a level close to its curve was therefore something of a minor triumph.

Volksbank Wien on Monday became the 12th bank in Austria to issue benchmark covered bonds, selling its debut deal on the back of the highest subscription of any benchmark from the country in over two years.

Analysts at Deloitte said this week that they expected the Bank of England would not renew its Term Funding Scheme, leading to a substantial rise in secured issuance volumes. This is at odds with the views of some market participants, who believe that Brexit could make a new funding programme inevitable in the UK.

The Estonian parliament’s recent approval of covered bond legislation paves the way for the first Baltic deal, which could come from Luminor Bank, but whether it is initially secured on a pool of pan-Baltic mortgages remains to be seen.

Sparebanken 1 Boligkreditt’s (Spabol) 10 year has the highest covered bond mark of all deals issued by any bank outside the eurozone this year on GC BondMarker. SEB issued the highest scoring Swedish deal and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) issued the best ranking Canadian covered bond this year.

Of the 13 German Pfandbriefe issued this year, a trio of deals issued by DZ Hyp, BayernLB and Deutsche Pfandbriefbank are vying for the top covered bond mark.