CEE Bonds

Všeobecná úverova banka (VÚB) issued a €500m five year covered bond on Wednesday at the tightest spread for any issuer from Slovakia.

Russian Railways ventured into the Swiss franc market this week to sell the first hybrid corporate bond in over two years, a sign of a maturing Swissie market, according to local market participants.

Despite the disruption that the coronavirus pandemic and, more recently, volatility in global markets have brought to emerging market debt, issuers in the CEEMEA region are not backing away from their pivot towards ESG financing. Though concerns about greenwashing are holding the market back, new sustainability-linked and transition structures are tempting issuers.

Všeobecná úverova banka (VUB) issued a €500m five year covered bond on Wednesday at the tightest spread for any issuer from Slovakia. At the same time the Mortgage Society of Finland issued a sub-benchmark sized 10 year at close to fair value. The resounding outcomes for both deals partly reflected the generous spreads on offer. At the same time OP Mortgage Bank has announced plans to issue its debut green covered bond.

Russian Railways issued a rouble bond on Thursday. Russian companies may steer away from the dollar market as discussions around fresh sanctions on Russia continue.

Turkey's international bond market access is once again in question. Rising US Treasury yields have put affordable dollar funding beyond the sovereign for now, bankers believe, undoing the good done by a move back to orthodox monetary policy late last year, after months of inflation and a plunging lira. A rate hike next week may help restore issuance prospects, writes Mariam Meskin.

A flurry of Swiss franc issuance dusted the market this week, as domestic and foreign borrowers entered a more settled market.

Latvia was set to sell a bond in euros on Wednesday, which market participants said was set to be priced very tightly.

Turkish lender Akbank is in the syndicated loan market with its debut ESG deal, according to sources. The bank has been able to tighten pricing on the refinancing, meaning that it has enough competitively priced funding for it not to need to come to the bond market.

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The US this week confirmed it would follow the EU and sanction certain Russian individuals in connection with the poisoning of prominent opposition leader and Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. The announcements did not move markets, and are a far cry from the worst-case scenario some had feared.

Belfius Bank is looking to amend the terms and conditions of one of its tier twos so that it can remain eligible for the minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL). The bond was issued with risk factor language under English law but will now need to be updated to reflect the UK’s departure from the EU.