France

KfW and Ville de Paris grabbed the attention of investors at the opposite ends of the euro curve on Tuesday in what has been a thin week for issuance in the currency by public sector borrowers ahead of the expected arrival of the EU’s first syndicated bond under its Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) funding programme next week.

Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of business on Monday, October 12. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services

Agence Française de Développement has unveiled a new broader thematic bond framework tied to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which will allow it to issue social and sustainable bonds alongside its existing green bonds.

Caffil attracted robust demand for its fifth covered bond this year on Monday, thanks to the positive yield on offer at the unusual 15 year maturity. But with a wave of cheap European Union 15 year supply expected to surface before long, other issuers may try to follow Caffil's lead and jump in ahead.

Unédic will follow up this week’s eight year social bond with another two social bonds to wrap up its 2020 state guaranteed funding programme.

This week's funding scorecard looks at the progress French agencies have made in their funding programmes in early October.

Deal arrangers expect bank bond supply will peter out after a flurry of deals this week. Issuers have been enjoying fantastic conditions, but most of them have finished their funding plans early so they can lay low throughout a much-feared fourth quarter. Tyler Davies and Bill Thornhill report.

Green, social and sustainable issuance has dominated the supranational and agency bond market for a whole month, consistently outpacing conventional supply. This week proved another extremely strong one for the asset class.

Rating: Aa2/AA

Crédit Agricole and Nykredit Realkredit were able to push aggressively on pricing in the additional tier one (AT1) market this week, as they took advantage of favourable supply and demand dynamics.

Unédic returned for another social benchmark on Thursday, adding to the slew of successful French agency SRI-themed paper.

Korian, the French nursing home operator, has launched a €400m rights issue to buy Inicea, a French operator of psychiatry clinics.