Covered Bonds

The moribund dollar covered bond market is set for a renaissance as the cost advantage compared with other currencies and other sources of wholesale funding has improved. Issuers ought to be renewing alternative sources of demand.

Swedbank announced in its results on Tuesday that a proposal to change the regulatory treatment of Swedish mortgages would lower its common equity tier one (CET1) ratio. The rule change will also take Swedish banks’ additional tier one (AT1) bonds closer to their trigger levels.

Caja Rural de Navarra (CRN) mandated leads on Tuesday for a €500m seven year sustainable covered bond which is likely be launched on Wednesday. At the same time, Landshypotek Bank AB mandated leads for a roadshow to present its green framework ahead of a five year Swedish krona covered bond benchmark.

Credit Mutuel CIC issued the widest 10 year French covered bond of this year on Monday, reflecting higher net supply in 2018 compared with previous years and less central bank buying activity. But with net supply set to fall, spreads should soon stabilise.

The European Central Bank’s Ad Visser acknowledged its "flexible" approach to covered bond purchases at the European Covered Bond Council’s plenary meeting held in Vancouver on Wednesday. His remark was made in response to a question about whether the ECB was reducing its primary market orders by 10% to a maximum of 30% of a deal’s size.

Investors were queuing up to place orders for new deals from Norway’s Sbanken Boligkreditt and Poland’s mBank Hipoteczny on Thursday, as the pair looked to enter the euro covered bond market for the first time.

Rabobank issued two tranches of covered debt on Wednesday and was able to match ABN Amro’s record for the tightest ever 20 year spread. DG Hyp also issued a covered bond, its first since March last year.

Investors are expecting banks to accelerate their plans to sell additional tier one (AT1) bonds in the coming weeks, but a number of recent new issues have been too tightly priced to excite some market specialists.

Canadian covered bonds are set to become even more attractive under the country’s newly published bail-in regulations, delegates heard at the European Covered Bond Council’s 27th plenary session held in Vancouver on Wednesday. If immigration policy remains unchanged, there will be limited scope for a correction in Canadian house prices.

Caisse Francaise De Financement Local (Caffil) found good demand for a €1.5bn 10 year with a final spread close to what it could have achieved before the covered bond purchase programme begun. The deal followed a €1bn five year from Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA).

Skipton Building Society has mandated leads for a roadshow ahead of its first sterling benchmark covered bond, while Sbanken Boligkreditt has already begun marketing its debut euro benchmark.

Caisse Francaise De Financement Local (Caffil) has mandated leads for a 10 year euro benchmark Obligation foncière, and after completing a roadshow last week, The Mortgage Society of Finland is set to open order books for sub-benchmark deal.