Covered Bonds

Howard Goldwasser, formerly of Allen & Overy, has joined Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle as a partner in the firm’s New York office.

A commitment to hearings on covered bonds from Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, two weeks ago promised the biggest breakthrough for the asset class in the US in 18 months, but the detail of the legislation proposed by congressman Scott Garrett that elicited Frank’s statement was of a similarly game-changing nature. The Cover spoke to market participants about what such legislation would mean for the development of covered bonds in the US.

A Eu1bn 10 year obbligazioni bancarie garantite issue for UBI Banca yesterday (Thursday) showed that despite the approaching year-end there is still demand from investors looking for yield at the long end of the curve, said a syndicate official at one of the leads.

Fitch placed EBS Mortgage Finance’s covered bonds on rating watch positive today (Friday), following the same rating action two days ago on the issuer’s long term default rating.

UBI Banca launched a Eu1bn 10 year mortgage-backed covered bond this (Thursday) morning, tackling the complications of launching a new issue close to year-end to prevent this week from becoming the first since the week of 22 June without any benchmark supply (including taps).

Fitch yesterday (Wednesday) placed Chelsea Building Society’s covered bonds on rating watch positive after assigning the same status to the institution’s long term issuer default rating. The rating actions follow the announcement that Chelsea and Yorkshire Building Society plan to merge.

Source: Dealogic. Data excludes retained deals under Dealogic criteria.

Source: Dealogic. Data includes jumbo issues in euros, $1bn minimum issues in dollars and C$750m minimum issues in Canadian dollars; excludes retained deals under Dealogic criteria.

Fitch placed EBS Building Society’s long term issuer default rating on rating watch positive yesterday (Wednesday) following an announcement that it has entered into discussions with Irish Nationwide Building Society about a possible merger.

The European Central Bank reported a Eu76m increase in settled covered bond purchases under its Eu60bn programme this (Thursday) morning, the lowest day’s rise in four weeks. The ECB is due to publish its fifth monthly report on the purchase programme this afternoon after a meeting of the Governing Council.

The European Central Bank reported a Eu184m increase in settled purchases under its Eu60bn covered bond programme this (Wednesday) morning, taking the total to Eu25.995bn.