Covered Bond Opinion

Unlike many banks, NordLB had been actively reducing its balance sheet well before the coronavirus crisis hit, so its need for funding is more modest than most. Though it seems likely Pfandbrief issuance will eventually return, German borrowers are hesitant to come to market, especially when there is cheap, plentiful central bank funding available. And, while Pfandbrief investors are well protected, it seems likely that a slow recovery in the commercial real estate market and a more questionable outlook for SME lending, will take its toll on lenders’ business models.

Banks want to position themselves as ahead of the curve on sustainability. They are among the most sophisticated, well resourced, IT-savvy organisations in the world. Why can't they work out the carbon footprints of their portfolios?

Unlike many other banks, ANZ has had no need to draw on central bank emergency liquidity lines during the coronavirus pandemic. Its risk-weighted assets have grown but this has been offset by greater retail deposits. And, as head of funding Mostyn Kau revealed, what subordinated debt issuance it does have to do will be for regulatory reasons rather than to do with Covid-19 crisis funding.

Banks should be brave enough to take decisions that upset their additional tier one (AT1) investors.

UniCredit began the year with a new template for growth but is now simply trying to help support clients through the crisis, while hoping that the deeper relationships being forged will endure, writes David Rothnie.

Luca Bertalot, secretary-general of the European Mortgage Federation-European Covered Bond Council (EMF-ECBC), speaks to GlobalCapital about the covered bond market living up to its reputation, the ECBC’s Covid-19 task force and monitoring report, transparency enhancements, the scope for a revival of the public sector market, and how green European Secured Notes (ESNs) and covered bonds secured on energy efficient mortgages could be flagships in Europe’s economic recovery.

Citigroup is determined to emerge as a winner from the Covid-19 crisis and conquer the summit of global investment banking, in the face of any pull to concentrate more on home markets, writes David Rothnie.

Martin McKinney, senior manager of medium-term funding at Santander UK, speaks to GlobalCapital about the impact the UK’s lockdown on the bank’s balance sheet, central bank liquidity, and the bank’s changing mix of regulatory and pure funding.

A strong and growing deposit base, an active private placement market and sizeable proportion of prefunding has put the Pfandbrief banks in a strong liquidity position, the chief executive officer of the Association of German Pfandbrief Banks (VDP), Jens Tolckmitt, told GlobalCapital in an interview on Tuesday covering a wide range of other topics such as real estate values, the mortgage lending value and Basel III’s output floor.

Lloyds Bank has got most of its covered bond and senior funding out of the way already this year — ideal, given the threat of the coronavirus pandemic to both bond markets and the wider economy. But the bank has also been busy optimising its capital stack, which should support its lending just when it is most needed.