Covered Bonds
-
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said that covered bonds had attractions for mortgage finance in the US in a speech on Friday on possible alternatives to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. However, he warned that competition from the Federal Home Loan Banks could stymie their development.
-
Data includes jumbo issues in euros and $1bn minimum issues in dollars; excludes retained deals under Dealogic criteria. -
-
The high proportions of foreign currency mortgage loans extended by Hungarian banks have raised concerns about the impact the sharp drop in the value of the forint could have on the credit quality of their covered bonds. However, an official at one Hungarian bank said that such fears are exaggerated.
-
The Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association and covered bond dealers are expected to make a decision in the coming weeks on whether to go-ahead with its proposed European Covered Bonds group.
-
The Danish Ministry of Economic & Business Affairs and the Danish Insurance Association today (Friday) announced a set of initiatives to support the Danish life insurance and pension sector, and Danish covered bonds.
-
Fitch today (Thursday) affirmed the long term individual default ratings of several German Landesbanks and of Deutsche Postbank, citing the high potential of support from the banks’ owners in the event of need. However, some are already turning to the central government as well as local owners to shore up their capital and funding.
-
Bank of Scotland launched the first government guaranteed bank deal from an established covered bond issuer yesterday (Wednesday). But even as the dust settled in the wake of the new asset class’s impact on the bond markets, the way forward for covered bonds was no clearer.
