Canada

Bank of Montreal is set to price its Eu1bn five year covered bond at 24bp over mid-swaps today, paying 4bp more than Royal Bank of Canada did for its 10 year deal last week, after suffering from the wider than expected pricing of Banco Espiríto Santo’s Eu1.25bn three year deal at 20bp over on Tuesday.

The books were opened for Bank of Montreal’s (BMO) debut covered bond today and by mid-morning some Eu700m of orders had been placed, with the book continuing to build. The benchmark sized, five year euro deal is being marketed with guidance in the 24bp area and has yet to be refined.

The market survived an early test of appetite for lengthy structured deals in Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) Eu1.25bn 10 year transaction, which was priced at 20bp over mid-swaps yesterday (Wednesday).

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) looks set to successfully re-open the long end of the covered bond market. Pricing of 20bp over mid-swaps proved enough to attract Eu1.46bn of orders, allowing the final size of the deal to be set at Eu1.25bn. Final pricing is expected this afternoon (Wednesday).

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) restarted 10 supply by boldly announcing such a mandate yesterday (Monday), attempting to follow the success of its debut five year with a 10 year euro jumbo in the face of a market that had proved hostile to both structured covered bonds and longer dated maturities.

The covered bond market continued to enjoy calmer weather this week, with spreads recovering on the back of a calm week. Market participants reported that potential issuers now felt secondary spreads were stable enough to guide future issuance.

Dominion Bond Rating Service (DBRS) has assigned a provisional triple-A rating to Bank of Montreal’s covered bond programme. BMO is expected to launch what will only be the second Canadian covered bond in January.

Bank of Montreal is confident that it can repeat the success Royal Bank of Canada enjoyed with its debut when it becomes the second issuer of Canadian covered bonds in the new year. The bank told The Cover that it was encouraged by the reception given to RBC’s inaugural issue.

Bank of Montreal will early next year become the second Canadian covered bond issuer after Royal Bank of Canada, having today (Monday) announced that it has mandated Bank of Montreal Capital Markets, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Société Générale and UniCredit for its inaugural covered bond.

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) priced its debut Eu2bn five year covered bond at 10bp over mid-swaps this (Tuesday) morning, at the tight end of the 11bp over mid-swaps area guidance.

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has opened the books on its inaugural, five year covered bond this morning with price guidance that appears to be gaining traction among investors.

The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is set to launch its inaugural benchmark covered bond next Monday and all eyes will be on just where the first Canadian transaction is positioned relative to outstanding sectors, especially the UK.