Europe

The possibility of a covered bond issuer pricing a deal inside government debt, once considered highly improbable, is now conceivable, say Deutsche Bank and Barclays Capital.

Société Générale SFH has mandated BBVA, Crédit Agricole, Danske, ING, SG and UniCredit for its inaugural euro Obligations de financement de l’habitat, which will be launched in the near future.

Emerging economies shouldn’t seek to emulate China’s state-led growth model which is unsustainable and in need of reform, regional politicians and academics have warned

Bayerische Landesbank on Thursday priced a Eu1.25bn Pfandbrief that paid testimony to the bank’s name and the strength of its collateral pool. The result was positive for the Landesbank sector as a whole given recent rating agency concerns over systemic state support for the sector.

CIF Euromortgage surprised market participants on Thursday, bringing a highly successful 10 year trade to a market many had deemed unreceptive to longer tenors. While Bayerische Landesbank and Eurohypo opted for short dated issuance, bookrunners on CIF’s Obligations Foncièrs benchmark trade were not initially confident in the choice of maturity.

Eurohypo capitalised on a market starved of supply for the last week, completing a Eu1.5bn three year deal on Thursday. Despite coming to market with the same maturity on the same day as German peer Bayerische Landesbank, the order book was two and a half times oversubscribed with orders from more than 115 single accounts - a testament to the strength of demand after a brief lull in issuance.

Human rights groups have published details of systematic torture and execution of unarmed protestors by Uzbek authorities six years ago

A top Chinese official told Emerging Markets that China is in intensive talks about joining the EBRD, but the bank’s president denied that such a politically sensitive prospect is on the table

After more than a week without benchmark euro issuance, three such deals were launched from core Europe on Thursday, as Eurohypo and Bayern LB came to market at the short end of the curve, while CIF Euromortage opted for a long dated transaction.

CIF Euromortgage mandated for, and then opened, a long 10 year euro trade through BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, Natixis and Nomura. The leads will price the benchmark Obligations Foncièrs later on Thursday, having gone out with guidance of the high 70s over mid-swaps.

Eurohypo will price a benchmark mortgage backed Pfandbrief later on Thursday, having attracted three times as many investors as its last trade, for a transaction three times the size.

Société Générale is expected to finish roadshowing its new covered bond programme on Friday. Given robust market conditions, a launch could follow as soon as next week. The programme structure is unusual for being backed by RMBS, as opposed to mortgage loans. In this sense it is similar to CIF Euromortgage’s long standing programme and Intesa’s Eu20bn OBG programme launched last year.