France

Société de Financement Local (SFIL) has picked banks to sell its first benchmark in euros this year.

Hamburg Commercial Bank priced its inaugural public bond on Thursday, a preferred senior deal which seemed to be unaffected by the litigation threat the bank is facing as it attracted €1.2bn of demand.

The World Bank sold its first 10 year euro benchmark since 2009 on Tuesday, with the supranational going slightly through its own curve on its return, according to onlooking SSA bankers.

City of Paris mandated banks on Monday for a new 20 year bond that will extend its curve to 2039.

National Australia Bank went to investors on Monday with a dual-tranche deal, looking to make use of favourable conditions in the euro market. It was the first Australian name to issue euro-denominated notes since Westpac in November 2018.

HSBC reopened the financial institutions bond market on Friday with the sale of a senior preferred note that pulled in demand of €1.5bn two hours after the trade started.

France and Germany have proposed to extend France’s model for a financial transactions tax (FTT) to all EU countries willing to participate, allocating the revenues to the EU’s budget, according to a Franco-German document seen by GlobalCapital.

Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) is planning to print its sustainable bond debut later this year, with a second benchmark of 2019 likely to follow shortly.

Altice, the international telecoms group led by Patrick Drahi, has set final terms for its jumbo high yield bond issue for its holding company, worth €2.8bn. It paid up compared with its curve to issue, but managed to place the second largest triple-C tranche ever issued in euros, a source said.

This week's funding scorecard looks at the progress French agencies have made in their funding programmes so far this year.

Société Générale may have provided market participants with a glimpse into the future after becoming the first bank to issue a covered bond as a security token on a public blockchain. Development of this technology is still at an early stage and is not without its risks, but proponents believe blockchain could revolutionise the covered bond market, reducing settlement times to just a few seconds.

Crédit Agricole has become the latest European bank to tap into strong demand for long-dated covered bonds in euros, raising €1.25bn of 15 year funding on Wednesday without paying a new issue premium to investors.