Danske Bank

Demand for the Republic of Finland’s latest bond was high on Wednesday as it printed through the ECB deposit rate to sell “the most expensive syndication of all time”, according to a banker on the deal. The five year note came 29.9bp richer than Austria’s previous record holding deal, another five year note sold in June.

Kommunalbanken brought its green bond framework to the Swedish krona market for the first time last week to place its seventh green note, its first since August 2018. The move into the currency follows a wider trend of major SSA issuers funding in niche currencies as raising debt in core markets becomes harder, according to bankers.

Europe's bond market reopened for the autumn issuance season this week — but it is a new bond market. The summer's queasy bout of bearishness has pushed government bond yields to unprecedented lows and these are now for the first time being tested as a platform for private sector bond issuance.

Market participants expect more banks will now want to print Kangaroos after investors on a search for yield poured into UBS's additional tier one (AT1) deal on Tuesday. The syndication, which surprised those involved after it managed to shave 75bp off its initial pricing guidance and attract A$4bn ($2.71bn) of orders, suggested a market ripe for a deal spree.

KfW brought its revamped green framework to the Norwegian krone market to print a deal on Tuesday. Later that week, strong demand from domestic and international investors let the issuer increase the note to a record breaking size, printing the largest Nokkie green bond across any asset class.

Danske Bank beat the crowds to issue a new non-preferred senior bond in euros on Tuesday, showing other issuers that investors are more than happy to get involved in the right types of trades this summer.

Volumes are growing across the spectrum in the Scandinavian MTN markets, as issuers and bankers return from their summer holidays. Meanwhile, bankers are expecting Scandinavian investors to move further out along the credit curve in response to negative yields as dovish Nordic central bank tones could lead to a bullish Scandinavian market.

Analysts at Danske Bank have said that Moody's could raise Portugal's credit rating this week even, amid signs of a weakening European economy. Such a move would have a knock-on impact for the country's banking industry, which has shown clear progress in improving its asset quality.

Handelsbanken has appointed Juha Mustonen as its new head of debt capital markets for Finland. He will work with Finnish loan and bond clients.

Finnish stainless steel producer Outokumpu has signed a €400m sustainability-linked term loan, used mostly for refinancing its short term debt, and featuring margin cuts if the company hits targets linked to workplace accidents and carbon emissions. It's a step forward in a leveraged finance market that has so far taken only tentative steps towards sustainability.

A trio of SSAs made the most of low yields in Danish kroner and Swedish kronor to print paper with coupons hovering around zero this week.

Three Nordic banks and one British bank placed paper in Swedish krona this week. NatWest Markets made its debut in the currency, while Scandinavian-based Avida Finans printed its first AT1. Avida Finans plans to follow this debut AT1 with a future stock exchange listing.