Finland

Finnish financial services group Sampo has begun cutting its stake in Nordea, one of the Nordic region’s biggest banks, following pressure from Elliott International, the activist hedge fund, to simplify its business.

OP Mortgage Bank is set to become the first bank in Finland to issue a covered bond secured on energy efficient mortgages after announcing a green covered bond framework. The prospective deal follows a growing crowd and comes after a string of debut covered bonds with an environmental, social or governance theme issued this year.

This week's scorecard looks at the progress Nordic agencies have made in their 2020 funding programmes at the end of October.

Canpack, a Poland-based packaging company, is making its debut in the euro and dollar high yield market this week, as it seeks to shake off the constraints of its private placement-based capital structure and prepare for expansion in the US.

The Single Resolution Board (SRB) will not force all banks to make a linear progression towards their minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL), in an effort to be more flexible during the Covid-19 pandemic. But financial institutions have still called on the authority this week to do more to prevent MREL from becoming a barrier to lending.

Green, social and sustainable issuance has dominated the supranational and agency bond market for a whole month, consistently outpacing conventional supply. That trend looks set to continue with three SRI deals already on screens.

Finland is unlikely to pay another visit to the syndicated or private placement markets this year and will instead look to round off its long-term funding needs with a tap via auction.

Spanish telecoms group MasMovil is preparing a €720m bond, the second part of the financing for its take-private by Cinven, KKR and Providence Private Equity. Most of the €2.9bn financing came through a loan issue, allocated in July, with the bonds readied following shareholder acceptance for the offer last week.

This week's scorecard looks at the progress Nordic agencies have made in their 2020 funding programmes in mid-September.

Two of the largest pension insurers in Finland have offloaded €283m of stock in Kojamo, a housing rental company in the country, tapping into yield driven demand for residential property companies during the pandemic.

French agency Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) hit screens on Monday afternoon with its second ever sustainability bond, following its debut in the format last year.

In a busy week for European sovereign sustainable issuance, Municipality Finance took the chance to sell its debut social bond — the first in the format from any Nordic SSA.