Issuance on pause after record pace

Benchmark covered bond issuance has dropped off its record pace of the past fortnight, with only two issuers tapping the market so far this week. Banco Santander priced a Eu1bn five year cédulas hipotecarias issue at 50bp over mid-swaps on Tuesday, while Dexia Municipal Agency was this morning gathering orders for a 12 year obligations foncières benchmark, the longest dated issue of the year, which was launched late on Tuesday. Other issuers are looking at launching new issues, but there are no public mandates in the pipeline. Read EuroWeek this Friday for more on this week’s issuance.