Caisse d Amortissement de la Dette Sociale

Public sector borrowers this week set new landmarks in what has already been an exemplary year in dollars, as KfW sold the largest 10 year dollar benchmark in 2.5 years and the Nordic Investment Bank priced the tightest deal versus swaps of 2018 so far. SSA bankers are confident that conditions will hold at both ends of the curve — allowing the possibility of further long end supply and even lower short end spreads.

Public sector borrowers wrapped up a trio of short end dollar trades on Tuesday, with the tightest issuer able to grind in pricing to the lowest level from an SSA this year and the higher yielding names finding ample demand despite ending up at similar spreads. SSA bankers are confident that the strong conditions will also ring true at the long end for KfW, which has mandated for its first 10 year dollar benchmark in nearly three years.

Caisse d'Amortissement de la Dette Sociale’s funding need for 2018 will be less than half that of 2017, the French agency said on Tuesday. It also provided an update on its merger with Agence France Trésor, the French sovereign debt agency.

Investors in public sector dollar deals have found themselves forced to accept brutally tight pricing as issuers drive in spreads to round off their funding programmes.

Three agencies launched short end dollar transactions on Tuesday, two of which managed to pull their spreads into impressively tight levels.

Caisse d’Amortissement de la Dette Sociale (Cades), the French social security debt agency, is set to form a much closer working arrangement with Agence France Trésor, the French sovereign debt office, in an effort to reduce operational risk.

There was strong praise this week from senior SSA bankers for Patrice Ract Madoux, the long-serving chairman of Caisse d’Amortissement de la Dette Sociale, who is retiring from the position.

Caisse d’Amortissement de la Dette Sociale has appointed a veteran of the French social security sector to succeed its long-serving chairman Patrice Ract Madoux, who is retiring.

This week's funding scorecard looks at the progress French agencies have made with their funding plans so far in 2017.

Hopes that spiralling US Treasury yields could lead to a healthy year for 10 year dollar benchmarks from SSA borrowers took a beating this week when the Asian Development Bank bellyflopped with its own attempted entry. Craig McGlashan reports.

Rating: Aa2/AA

US politics are the biggest potential threat to market stability in 2017, outstripping concerns over a series of European presidential and general elections, according to Philippe Noël, head of capital markets at Caisse d'Amortissement de la Dette Sociale. Noël made the comment as the French agency outlined its funding plans for 2017.