CIBC World Markets

The sterling covered bond market exploded into life this week as three transactions worth more than £3bn priced in three days, increasing this year’s issuance by 150%, and boosting hopes that more deals will follow.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce managed an outstanding result in sterling covered bonds on Wednesday. Despite the fact that 60% of this year’s entire supply has come in the past three days it managed to issue a sizeable deal at the same spread as an earlier one from Bank of Nova Scotia.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce returned to the euro covered bond market for its first deal since March 2020, issuing a highly subscribed €1bn eight year flat to fair value this week. At the same time Laurentian Bank said that its programme had received regulatory approval.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce returned to the euro covered bond market for its first deal since March 2020, issuing a highly subscribed €1bn eight year flat to fair value on Thursday.

Real estate companies are some of the biggest borrowers in Europe this year, with loans for Valor Real Estate and QuadReal Property, a UK/Canadian property joint venture, and Supermarket Income Reit adding to the pile this week.

Valour Real Estate and Quadreal Property, a UK and Canadian property joint venture, has signed €212m-equivalent of loans, with real estate companies making up some of the biggest borrowers in Europe so far this year.

The World Bank visited the Maple market on Thursday to print the largest ever seven year Canadian dollar bond from a non-domestic issuer, raising C$750m ($569.8m) with a new sustainable development bond (SDB).

A trio of SSA borrowers hit the market for dollar paper this week, testing the waters across the curve and finding investors receptive. Although the top tier names are mostly well funded, demand is still hot for the extra yield offered by the second layer of SSA borrowers.

Two recent policy changes from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) spurred a pair of foreign banks to scoop A$3.2bn ($2.2bn) from the bond market this week. An expansion of repo-eligibility and a term funding facility for domestic banks have freed up the funds to drive the bumper deals, according to a banker at one of Australia's big four banks.

A pair of foreign banks mandated senior unsecured Australian dollar transactions on Monday: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp is out with initial price thoughts through its Sydney branch, while the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is preparing a Kangaroo benchmark.

The Republic of Finland had to share its return to dollar market on Wednesday with a trio of three year SSA deals. Demand for dollar SSA bonds has been strong this week, and with mandates out for five and seven year deals,issuers are still looking to take advantage

Infrequent issuers are slowly returning to the Swiss franc market. During the past week, Eurofima brought its first Swissies deal in six years, while biotech firm Lonza printed its first bond in any currency since 2017.