Covered Bonds

OTP Mortgage Bank opened books on a €500m floating rate covered bond on Thursday morning, and set guidance on the mortgage backed deal at 190bp over three month Euribor.

Covered bond primary activity took off on Thursday after the US government voted to extend the debt ceiling deadline to February 7 next year. As many as four issuers from Italy, Hungary, New Zealand and Canada opened books for new benchmarks. But the star turn was Italy’s Banca Carige which, despite strong headwinds, attracted a resounding endorsement from investors for its first deal since March 2011.

After roadshowing nearly four months ago, New Zealand’s ASB Bank finally took the plunge and opened books for a €500m five year deal on Thursday. Despite a high rating and fair spread, the deal competed head on with Banca Carige (see other story) and found only a tepid investor response. At the same time, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce opened books for a long three year denominated in Aussie dollars.

The looming US debt ceiling deadline is weighing more and more on market participants’ minds, but you would not know it from the state of the FIG markets. The euro market is busy in senior unsecured, covered bonds and tier two — and BPCE even managed to get a subordinated dollar bond done on Tuesday.

HSBC has returned to the covered bond market for the second time this year with a seven year deal which, like its earlier transaction, was notable for its breadth and depth of demand.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria has begun updating the value of properties backing mortgage loans collateralised in its Cédulas. Though this is likely to lead to a decrease in the overcollaterlisation (OC) ratio, Moody’s applauded the move as it will improve transparency on the credit quality of the cover pool assets.

Banca Carige has mandated leads for a potential euro-denominated covered bond (Obbligazioni Bancarie Garantite) benchmark transaction, which could be launched on Thursday just as the US debt ceiling deadline falls due.

Standard & Poor’s has asked for feedback on its plan to reduce the maximum differential between sovereign and covered bond ratings. Over half the ratings of Spanish, Portuguese and Italian covered bonds would be downgraded by two notches, it said.

Norway’s banks will not be hit by the finance ministry’s latest changes to balance sheets rules that affect mortgages, as they already operate on a stricter footing, a local banker told The Cover on Tuesday. From next January the loss given default floor for mortgage assets on Norwegian bank balance sheets will double, the finance ministry announced on Sunday.

Despite the close proximity of the US debt deadline on Thursday, the covered bond market was stable and well supported on Tuesday, said bankers, who are waiting for imminent deal mandates from Austria and Italy.

Moody’s average timely payment indicator (TPI) leeway has fallen, driven by the link between sovereign ratings and covered bond programmes, the agency said on Tuesday, in its second quarter 2013 covered bond monitoring overview.

Lead managers on ABN Amro’s first Dolphin RMBS since 2011 started taking indications of interest for the €500m of ‘A’ notes on Monday morning, after the issuer finished a week long roadshow on Friday.