Banks

◆ Largest coverage ratio for almost three months ◆ Priced flat to fair value ◆ Slow pipeline predicted for rest of week

Crédit Agricole CIB's head of covered bond and SSA research expects premiums to stay at current levels

◆ Fatigue visible in sterling FIG as Westfield secured bond also grabs attention ◆ UniCredit funds in line with euros ◆ Nova Scotia comes flat to dollars

Swiss bank is growing its client base on a global scale but without trying to be 'everything to everyone'

◆ French lender has placed €3bn of covereds already this year ◆ Order book peaked at just below €2bn ◆ The bond was 1bp outside French government debt, a banker said

Feuds over Monte dei Paschi and Generali will run and run

Foreign banks took advantage of more stable bond market conditions amid a funding splurge by US banks after reporting bumper first quarter earnings

Smaller, private banks likely to issue in coming weeks, experts have said

◆ Sterling market welcomes third unsecured FIG deal of the week ◆ RBC's 15bp price tightening is 'encouraging' for other issuers ◆ Relative value works well versus other G3 currencies

There were no new covered bonds issued on Thursday after two on Wednesday and four on Tuesday

◆ Both issuers out with similar deals on a busy day in primary market ◆ Demand flows to credit as investors show preference for higher yielding names ◆ Nykredit ends with bigger book due to wider spread

◆ Asset class is 10bp wider than two months ago ◆ Santander prints for the first time in more than two years ◆ Swiss Re restarts even rarer insurance capital funding