France

Fitch yesterday (Wednesday) affirmed its AAA rating of Dexia Municipal Agency’s obligations foncières. The affirmation comes despite the rating agency’s downgrade of Dexia Crédit Local from AA+ to AA-, with a stable outlook.

Dexia today (Tuesday) received a Eu6.4bn equity injection from governments and other shareholders after the group’s shares fell almost 30% yesterday (Monday). After a trading suspension was lifted this morning the stock rallied around 20%.

Unfazed by the new realities of a covered bond market characterised by wider spreads, Groupe Caisse d’Epargne moved quickly to take advantage of a window of opportunity when it saw one to launch its debut issue on Monday. The issuer told The Cover that while conditions might not be ideal, there is no guarantee they will get any better.

Groupe Caisse d’Epargne’s Eu1bn two year debut, priced yesterday (Monday) at 51bp over mid-swaps, offered no relief from the repricing of the covered bond market signalled by recent transactions.

HSBC, Natixis, Société Générale and UniCredit have been mandated to hold a European roadshow for HSBC Covered Bonds (France) later this month.

Caisse de Refinancement de l’Habitat priced a Eu200m increase to its Eu1bn October 2017 issue this (Tuesday) morning, offering some rare long dated supply, albeit in a low profile transaction.

In brief: Crédit Agricole has mandated the first issue off its new covered bond programme to Barclays Capital, Calyon and UniCredit. The deal is expected in mid-September after a European roadshow.

HSBC Covered Bonds (France) has filed a prospectus with the Luxembourg Stock Exchange for a Eu8bn covered bond programme. Meanwhile, Crédit Agricole looks to be finally close to completing its plans for issuance, having set up a Eu35bn programme.

In brief: Standard & Poor’s today (Monday) assigned a triple-A rating to the GCE Covered Bond programme. It simultaneously withdrew the triple-A rating that had been given to a standalone transaction on a preliminary basis in May.

A Sfr200m four year deal for Compagnie de Financement Foncier launched yesterday (Thursday) proved attractive versus competing senior unsecured supply in the Swiss franc market.

Dexia LdG Banque could become a regular visitor to the public markets after its debut benchmark this autumn, Véronique Hugues, global head of long term funding at Dexia, told The Cover yesterday (Monday).