Covered Bonds

Bank of New Zealand has chosen a covered bond as the format for a new deal, after originally announcing it would consider senior unsecured or covereds.

Commerzbank and Oma Savings Bank both said on Monday that they were looking to tap existing covered bonds, as issuers tiptoed into the new week monitoring primary market conditions closely.

The European Banking Authority has spelled out its thoughts about the worth of creating a market for European Structured Notes (ESNs), a covered bond-like dual-recourse instrument backed by a broader range of assets than legislative covered bonds ahead of a public hearing on the potential asset class next week.

Canadian Imperial bank of Commerce this week issued the first dollar covered bond in 144A format this year. The funding, which was much cheaper than the cost of raising a similar deal in dollar senior format, could well unleash a slew of supply, mostly from Canadian banks but also potentially from European names.

After an absence of more than two years, Royal Bank of Canada this week issued its first covered bond in euros, attracting a comfortably oversubscribed order book for a €1.5bn deal which was priced with a skinny new issue concession.

Deutsche Hypo this week priced an eight year Pfandbrief at the widest level of any benchmark sized German covered bond this year, suggesting investor sensitivity is particularly pronounced in this part of the curve when the spread to mid-swaps is negative.

The European Covered Bond Council (ECBC) has appointed Boudewijn Dierick as deputy chairman where he will help advise on a number of key developments, including the impending implementation of the European Commission’s covered bond directive and the formulation of a legal framework for European Secured Notes which will begin to take form on Tuesday, June 26.

Italian banks will no longer need to have a minimum capital base of €250m to issue covered bonds. That suggests potential for an expansion of the market without relying on a multi-issuer framework where banks would pool assets to reach a benchmark size of €500m.

Erste Group and Caffil found good demand for their covered bonds that were respectively issued in the six and 20 year tenors on Tuesday. But neither deal was straightforward, according to leads, who noted that overnight market volatility had weighed on sentiment.

Société Générale returned to the covered bond market for the second time this year and found strong demand for its tightly priced long seven year. The excellent reception will help boost confidence for Erste Group and Caffil, which have both mandated for follow-on covered bonds.

LBBW’s debut green Pfandbrief attracted a larger order book from a wider set of international investors compared with a vanilla deal, suggesting the bonds have good scope to perform relative to ordinary deals.

LBBW has mandated leads for its first Pfandbrief secured on green mortgages. The transaction follows a similar deal last week from DNB Boligkreditt and comes after LBBW’s inaugural green senior deal launched in December 2017. Several other covered bonds are expected next week.