EIB

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced that it plans to issue a Green Bond in the autumn. Meanwhile the EIB was putting the final touches on a €650m Climate Awareness Bond as SSA Markets went to press.

Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten (BNG) may lead a small handful of issuers looking to print deals before investors pack their buckets and spades and head to the beach for the summer. The Dutch agency joins its compatriot Nederlandse Waterschapsbank (NWB) among the names that may well access public markets before August.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) tapped 10 year Swiss franc debt on Wednesday, adding to a string of high-grade issuance in the currency this week. Oesterreichische Kontrollbank Aktiengesellschaft (ÖKB) has already accessed the market, selling a new seven year line on Tuesday, leaving Swiss franc syndicates sanguine on the market’s prospects.

KfW took advantage of a clear issuance window on Tuesday to bring a long-awaited euro benchmark, shrugging off uncertainty over how fast rates will rise in the run up to the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting on Wednesday. The result was hailed as “encouraging” by market participants who also had the spectacle of a €1bn tap of the EIB’s recent 10 year EARN to take comfort from.

This week's funding scorecard focuses on some of Europe's key supranational and agency borrowers. Forthcoming editions will bring updates from other French, German, Spanish and Scandinavian names.

With sentiment turning against new issues this week after a prolonged rates sell-off, the benefit of front-loading issuance programmes is there for all to see. There has been nothing as drastic as markets shutting down to contend with, but a spate of weak deals this week has proven that the relentless bid that had sustained the new issue market for over six months was not indefatigable.

KfW accessed the Canadian dollar market for the first time this year on Wednesday, selling the largest ever Canadian dollar bond from an international SSA issuer. The deal signifies increased investor interest in the currency, with buyers treating it as a possible alternative to a weakening Australian dollar, and that could inspire further deals in the currency, said bankers.

KfW could follow the EIB into the euro market within the next couple of weeks, bankers said on Wednesday, after the supranational’s €3bn 10 year was successfully absorbed this week, despite the volatile underlying market.

Investor hesitance in the face of a rates sell-off that took up the whole of May and shows no sign of abating has resulted in dwindling enthusiasm for SSA new issues as the EIB and Belgium have found out so far this week.

The European Investment Bank targeted the far end of its Swiss franc curve on Thursday afternoon, selling a new 20 year bond. The 2033 maturity makes it comfortably the longest dated bond from an international issuer in Swiss francs this year, catching the attention of institutional investors.

SSA syndicate bankers are predicting either a seven year benchmark from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) next week, or a deal at the far end of the curve, after they made their recommendations to the borrower this week. The European Investment Bank and KfW are also expected to issue either next week or the week after.

Kommunalbanken sold its first senior unsecured Canadian debt in two years on Friday, opting for a five year RegS/144a deal. The deal follows the sale of five year debt in the currency by EIB and FMS Wertmanagement in April, prompting some analysts to predict a possible resurgence in interest in the currency.