Currencies

ABN Amro yesterday (Monday) priced a Eu2bn five year mortgage-backed benchmark at 98bp over mid-swaps, the tightest level this year for a jumbo issued outside of France and Germany. The issuer spoke to The Cover about the comeback transaction and the forthcoming registration of its programme.

Deutsche Kreditbank is pricing its first mortgage backed Pfandbrief issue this (Tuesday) afternoon, a Eu500m five year deal that will come at the tight end of guidance.

In brief: Fitch today (Tuesday) announced the final criteria it uses to assess liquidity risks in covered bonds after giving market participants time to comment on an exposure draft published in March. The covered bonds of three institutions have been downgraded as a result of the new criteria.

In brief: The books were opened for GE SCF’s first obligations foncières issue this (Tuesday) morning and the leads have reported that the maximum Eu1bn deal size has been exceeded, although the pace of sales appears slower than on recent jumbos.

ABN Amro will this (Monday) afternoon price its first benchmark since February 2007. The deal’s launch coincides with the official start of the European Central Bank’s Eu60bn covered bond purchase programme, and also marks the beginning of what could be a busy week in the primary market, with several other issuers understood to be lining up deals.

A Eu9.2bn book for Deutsche Postbank’s Eu1bn five year public sector Pfandbrief debut on Friday left market participants questioning the healthiness of such a high level of oversubscription.

Deutsche Postbank is this (Friday) morning understood to have built a book for its debut jumbo public sector Pfandbrief that is believed to be by far the largest for a covered bond in more than a year and one of the biggest ever.

* These banks were not ranked in the top 20 in the euro jumbo league table for Q1 2009.

UniCredit yesterday (Monday) priced the first Italian covered bond issue since Banca Popolare di Milano inaugurated the obbligazioni bancarie garantite market in July 2008. The issuer told The Cover that the Eu2bn seven year mortgage-backed jumbo was priced at a level it deserved, after the re-offer took several market participants by surprise.

Société Générale on Friday sold its second jumbo of the year, a Eu1bn maximum seven year issue that was four times oversubscribed, enabling pricing inside the level at which the deal was originally marketed.

UniCredit is set to price its first Italian covered bond issue well inside expectations this (Monday) afternoon after having generated strong demand for its obbligazioni bancarie garantite (OBG).

Société Générale SCF leveraged off attractive pricing and a Eu1bn maximum size to build a Eu4bn book for a seven year jumbo and fix pricing inside guidance this (Friday) morning. But the execution disappointed some investors, who likened it to practices in the corporate bond market.