Bidding for a place alongside KfW and EIB

Since launching its first euro benchmark bond last June, NRW.Bank — the successor to Landesbank Nordrhein-Westfalen and ultimately of the old Westdeutsche Landesbank — has been busy building its borrower credentials in the international debt capital markets. Its new status as a development bank means that NRW is one of the few banks in Germany that will retain the state guarantees of Anstaltslast and Gewährträgerhaftung after July 2005. Here, EuroWeek talks to the AA/Aa2/AAA rated, zero risk weighted development bank for the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia about its performance in the debt markets. Frank Richter, head of investor relations at NRW.Bank in Düsseldorf, explains how the bank aims to broaden its investor base and offer more products in the structured EMTN market.