Covered Bonds
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Standard & Poor’s yesterday (Wednesday) downgraded five German Landesbanks by one to two notches, and revised the outlook on a sixth. Two of the Landesbanks in question hit back at the rating agency’s actions.
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Kookmin Bank priced a $1bn five year bond last (Wednesday) night, opening up the covered bond market for Asian borrowers, but dividing opinion among bankers in the process.
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Moody’s today (Thursday) cut Storebrand Bank’s rating from A2 to A3, on negative outlook, on lower profitability and a downgrade of its parent, Storebrand ASA, to Baa3.
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German accounts have been exerting a greater influence on the jumbo covered bond market this week, even if French issuers continued to be the main players and supply remained confined to taps.
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The first covered bond from New Zealand could be on the way, with one of the country’s banks having apparently taken steps towards issuance this week.
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The debut cédulas hipotecarias issued last week by Barclays Bank SA, the Spanish arm of the UK banking group, are part of a wider funding strategy of “maximising securitisability” of the bank’s balance sheet, a treasury official at the issuer told The Cover.
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Kookmin Bank is moving closer to pricing the first Asian covered bond, with the leads having released the latest official price guidance for the deal.
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The Governing Council of the European Central Bank is expected to announce unconventional policy measures after its meeting tomorrow (Thursday). Covered bond market participants have been speculating as to whether or not the council’s decisions could include the direct purchase of covered bonds.
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Standard & Poor’s on Friday put Allied Irish Bank on CreditWatch negative, reflecting uncertainty over the bank’s profile and the Irish government’s “bad bank” plan.
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In brief: Fitch on Friday lowered the Discontinuity Factor (D-Factor) of Leeds Building Society’s covered bonds after the UK Financial Services Authority gave the financial institution’s programme Regulated Covered Bond Status last week.
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Price whispers for Kookmin Bank’s upcoming covered bond were released today (Tuesday), leaving some market participants surprised at the attractive pricing on offer.