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Covered Bond Opinion

  • Central banks have been tweaking and improving their stress testing models in recent years. But these schemes are already long overdue using a climate risk scenario.
  • Following an €8.1bn state bail-out, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena still has its work cut out in putting ticks in the boxes of its 2021 restructuring plan.
  • Protecting retail investors is a laudable goal. But what they are protected from often seems arbitrary.
  • Demand for a deal can be accurately reflected only in the context of a specific spread. Anything other than that can mislead investors, so the ECB should demand better.
  • SRI
    In the week Belgium announces its first green bond roadshow, the national motto (Eendracht maakt macht in Dutch) aptly captures the real importance of the European Commission’s new roadmap on sustainable finance, which lays out a panoply of actions Europe could take to green its financial system. That is: unity makes strength.
  • Authors of last week’s HLEG sustainable finance report seem unsure whether they want green capital relief or not — while the European Banking Federation (EBF) seems unsure about why.
  • Market participants should be following closely the tactics, if not the arguments, of investors that lost out in the Novo Banco retransfer two years ago.
  • Primary covered bond sales have gone smoothly so far this year, with borrowers continuing to pay negligible new issue premiums and still attracting comfortably oversubscribed order books. But look a little closer and its clear there’s been a perceptible change. Investors are fighting back, and beginning to get their way.
  • Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena’s comeback plans show that there is still a big difference between tier two and additional tier one (AT1) bonds, even after the failure of Banco Popular.
  • The largest and darkest clouds that hung over Europe's banks appear to have all but cleared in time for the new year.