Covered Bonds

After a long succession of euro issuance from Canadian banks, Royal Bank of Canada broke ranks and issued the first dollar covered bond of the year on Thursday, funding at levels close to what it could have achieved in euros. The $2bn deal is likely to have been closely watched by other global banks with an established presence in the US market, and suggests that further deals could follow.

The European Commission is set to commence a consultation towards setting up a Capital Markets Union by 2019. The European Covered Bond Council (ECBC) plans a panel discussion on the topic in Brussels in February shortly after the official release of a “Green paper,” a copy of which was leaked to the press earlier this week. A second consultation, specifically alluding to the role of covered bonds is expected in June.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore has published a consultation paper proposing to amend the covered bond law. The announcement suggests the timetable for Singaporean covered bond issuance will be pushed back.

Korea’s Kookmin Bank has issued a consent solicitation proposing to amend a negative pledge clause on three existing unsecured deals. The move signals that the firm is preparing for covered bond issuance.

Lulled into a false sense of security by the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing programme, investors seem to think they are immune from events in Greece. It’s certainly true that markets are in much better shape than they were when the country was first bailed out in 2010. Investors in AIB Mortgage Bank’s latest deal would probably vouch for that.

Erste Bank’s first covered bond in three years issued on Thursday was nearly three times subscribed in less than an hour. The rollicking result showed it was unaffected by mounting concerns in the Austrian bank sector generally, and over its peer Raiffeisen Bank in particular.

Core covered bond markets are well supported and, with Bund yields tumbling, they now offer exceptional value to established triple A investors, said dealers on Thursday. Though peripheral covered bonds have so far held in, uncertainty is greater and sentiment is more mixed.

The US Financial Services Committee has published a document which suggests policy makers will once again take a look at the potential for a US covered bond legal framework.

Faced with shrinking yields, covered bond investors have been deserting the market. Unless the ECB moves out of the way and switches to sovereign purchases fast, there is a real risk that these buyers will not be there when the extraordinary stimulus measures now being delivered are taken away.

Brazil’s primary covered bond legal framework was transformed into law on January 19. It could could achieve what the Chilean mortgage bond framework has been unable to do, said Fitch in a special report on the Brazilian covered bond law published on Monday. The law should enable substantial protection for covered bond investors, though much will depend on the more detailed secondary legislation - where work has only just begun.

Last week the ECB doubled its weekly covered bond purchasing rate to over €4bn, in line with the surge in primary issuance. Most analysts think the ECB will moderate the rate of covered bond purchases from March, when it will be able expand its balance sheet more rapidly with sovereign purchases, but not everyone is in agreement.

After pulling a 10 year deal last year, AIB Mortgage Bank returned to the market on Tuesday to price a very successful seven year. At the same time its Spanish peer, Bankinter, chose to issue in the same 10 year maturity that foiled AIB last year. Both banks achieved a solid result suggesting better quality peripheral covered bond issuers have not been affected by events in Greece.