ABN Amro

De Volksbank said that ambitious sustainability targets played a big role in helping it to attract investor attention this week. The Dutch lender became the first European bank to sell a tier two bond in green format, hot on the heels of the first green additional tier one transaction.

Market participants said that de Volksbank was close to sailing through fair value with the pricing on its new tier two on Wednesday, the first such deal in green format from a European bank.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, the Danish renewable energy investor, has signed a €380m green loan to finance a wind farm in Spain, as analysts say renewable energies are now cheaper for consumers than their fossil fuel counterparts in major markets.

De Volksbank is set to become the first European bank to issue tier two capital in a green bond format.

BBVA has become the first bank to print a green additional tier one (AT1) deal. When it was issued this week, it proved that the demand for socially responsible investments (SRI) extends to the riskiest of asset classes, meaning other banks are certain to bring out their own versions of the trade, writes David Freitas.

Shawbrook Group, the specialist UK lender, was able to price a new tier two at 9% this week. The deal is set to replace an older bond, which is subject to a tender offer and is otherwise callable later this year.

European banks are looking to tie up loose ends in their 2020 funding plans in next couple of weeks, according to deal arrangers, as they get ready for a remarkably uncertain summer period. Tyler Davies reports.

Syndicate bankers are scrambling to make sense of the covered bond market, where sentiment has been changeable in recent weeks. Amid volatility and small issuance windows, sustainable bonds have proven a safe strategy to ensure successful deals.

Berlin Hyp left ‘a little bit on the table’ with its new green covered bond on Tuesday. The trade was followed by deal announcements from Kookmin Bank and Sparebank Vest Boligkreditt, both looking to issue in sustainable format.

NN Bank unveiled plans on Monday to issue its first covered bond from its newly published soft-bullet programme. At the same time, Berlin Hyp has mandated lead managers for the sale of a new green covered bond.

Hannover Re gave away a bit of premium for a new tier two this week, after it touched on the lower bound of the spreads available in the market for insurance capital.

The Dutch part of Air France KLM has taken a €3.4bn bailout package from the Dutch government, which some analysts said includes the possibility for the state to increase its holding in the entire group.