Crédit Agricole

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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on Thursday rounded out a busy week for green bond issuance with yet another deal that was covered before books officially opened.

The euro public sector bond market bounced back in fine fashion this week after a shock result in the German federal election, leading to some well oversubscribed trades. A potential Catalonian independence referendum is also not affecting demand, said bankers.

On Thursday, Belgian gas transmission system operator, Fluxys, successfully priced both sub-benchmark tranches of its latest corporate bond deal it had set out to sell when it met with investors earlier in the week. The 10 year tenor was the company’s primary aim, but it was also willing to explore reverse enquiry for a 15 year tenor.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is set to become the first Mainland bank to sell a green bond aligned with both international standards and China’s framework.

A glut of short end dollar issuance this week is set to ramp up on Thursday, after a pair of rare names in the currency mandated on Wednesday. The trades will follow a strong showing from Finnvera after the Finnish agency — also an uncommon name in dollars — printed its largest ever trade in the currency.

KfW has punched through its conventional curve with a dollar green bond that left bankers away from the trade a similar colour of envy. More SRI supply is on the way, after the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development hit screens for Thursday’s business.

Bpifrance Financement has tapped a November 2024 line for €700m, outstripping the size of the original issue and selling into what a banker at one of the leads described as an “amazingly strong market”.

Finnvera will on Wednesday enter a searing market for three year dollars, following a similar trade from Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten that rounded off the Dutch agency’s dollar benchmark funding for the year.

One borrower took advantage of an excellent backdrop to scoop up its first green funding in euros at an attractive level on Tuesday, while a second issuer is lining up to follow suit in dollars.

US machinery manufacturer, John Deere, returned to the euro corporate bond market on Tuesday, selling its second deal in September. The €500m five year deal was issued by the company’s John Deere Bank entity.

Germany’s federal election on Sunday caused ripples in government bond spreads throughout the eurozone on Monday, but concerns are subsiding already, allowing one agency to announce its first euro green bond.