Danske Bank

The European Central Bank is expected to announce an extension to its Targeted Longer Term Refinancing Operations (TLTRO III) on Thursday, with this week's meeting long flagged as one for action. Any extension to either the duration of the programme or the minus 1% special interest period will ease the pressure on banks to repay borrowed funds early next September.

The FIG pipeline has slowed to a drip, with the upcoming ECB meeting and Brexit talks bookending what could be the last week of open windows for issuance.

The UK’s SSE Renewables and Norway’s Equinor, two energy companies, have signed what lenders say is the largest ever offshore wind project financing, a £5.5bn package for a wind farm off the UK coast.

Nederlandse Waterschapsbank and Kommuninvest will both take to the dollar market this week, sneaking in ahead of the Thanksgiving holidays.

Citycon Group, the Nordic shopping centre company, has signed €500m of revolving credit facilities. It wants to shore up its balance sheet as it teeters on the edge of a junk rating.

Financial institutions jumped into action this week, as positive news on the development of a Covid-19 vaccine led to superlative funding conditions in the euro market.

The Kingdom of Sweden will come to market on Wednesday for a new 25 year Swedish krona benchmark, coming on the heels of a green bond from the City of Gothenburg.

The positive tone following Monday’s vaccine announcement has filtered through into the secondary market, compressing bank senior index spreads to an almost two month low.

Deal arrangers expect banks will take advantage of a positive tone in the euro market by bringing forward their plans for non-preferred senior issuance, following in the footsteps of CaixaBank and ING Groep on Tuesday.

Three banks launched new senior deals in euros on Monday, taking advantage of a jubilant tone in the market following Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election. That sentiment received a further boost during the morning trading session when Pfizer and BioNTech revealed successful Covid-19 vaccine trials.

Vattenfall, the Swedish energy company, has swapped its €2bn bank line with a sustainability-linked facility, with the deal defining the borrower’s core banking group.

Although Danish covered bond issuance in euros is likely to prove limited, the domestic market continues to provide a rich seam of supply for foreign investors. Confidence is likely to have been bolstered by the limited impact of Covid lockdowns on the country's mortgage market, along with recent proposals to harmonise and update its legal framework.