Currencies

The secondary market has become irrelevant for pricing covered bonds. Spreads only reflect the level at which the eurosystem is willing to buy at, and not the rest of the market. It is the strongest signal yet of the disruption the European Central Bank's purchasing is causing.

Moody's assigned a provisional A3 rating to the euro-denominated mortgage covered bonds to be issued by Türkiye Vakiflar Bankasi (VakifBank) on Friday.

Fitch has upgraded the rating of Turkiye Garanti Bankasi (Garanti) after BBVA took a controlling stake in the bank. The rating action is likely to bode well from a credit perspective for the issuer’s forthcoming covered bond.

The Austrian restructuring law that wiped out subordinated debt guaranteed by the state of Carinthia was overturned this week by the Austrian constitutional court (VfGH). However, it is not expected to change the positions of subordinated and senior creditors much. Covered bonds should remain secure, said research analysts at LBBW and Erste Bank.

New issue premiums have fallen slightly and with many transactions going on to perform well in the secondary market, bankers conclude that primary conditions are receptive. However, with August approaching, investors are more likely to be away from their desks and activity is bound to slow.

Muenchener Hypothekenbank (MuHyp) has priced one of the tightest covered bonds of the year.

Covered bond new issue premiums fell on Tuesday as four borrowers launched deals worth over €2.5bn in total, on collective demand of about €5bn. LBBW’s second deal of the month was priced 1bp tighter than its last bond, even though it was two years longer. Bankia was set to issue at less than half the concession paid by peripheral borrowers last week, while Bank of Montreal and Bank of Nova Scotia were set to price in line with recent Canadian predecessors.

A positive outcome to this year's review by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of the potential inclusion of the renminbi into its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) facility could give a boost to interest in the currency from sovereigns, supranationals and agencies (SSAs), say market participants. Meanwhile, the IMF review is progressing, with the multilateral busy gathering data on trading flows.

The secondary market is no longer a relevant tool for price discovery. Spreads now only reflect the level at which the eurosystem would buy. The primary market is the more relevant price marker, but with concessions rising to as much as 24bp in some deals this week, investors are being alienated and traders are struggling to do their job, said analysts at Barclays.

Nationwide stood out on another busy day in the covered bond market, shaking off three euro-market rivals to print a €1bn mortgage backed bond on Thursday in line with Lloyds and BNS.

Little more than a week after its successful initial public offering, the reprivatized Deutsche Pfandbriefbank issued a €500m five year Pfandbrief that was priced closer than ever to its highly regarded peers, LBBW and Helaba. At the same time, WL Bank issued one of the tightest and most oversubscribed Pfandbriefe of the year.

Bankinter has priced the fourth peripheral covered bond of the week, the longest from a peripheral issuer since mid-April, and the most oversubscribed in the seven year tenor since early March. The evident success removes any lingering doubt over peripheral banks’ access to capital markets following the re-emergence of the Greek debt crisis.