Germany

Demand for the Republic of Finland’s latest bond was high on Wednesday as it printed through the ECB deposit rate to sell “the most expensive syndication of all time”, according to a banker on the deal. The five year note came 29.9bp richer than Austria’s previous record holding deal, another five year note sold in June.

TeamViewer was the first European issuer to test the IPO market after the summer lull on Tuesday. Sources close to the deal hope that the German software company’s high growth business model will allow it to sail through tricky markets.

VC Trade, one of the leading digital platforms in the Schuldschein market, has introduced an e-signature into its syndication process, which its founders claim renders the syndication process totally paperless. An impediment to paperless transactions has been market participants’ fear of regulatory and legal consequences — but VC Trade believes it has managed to navigate a way over these hurdles.

The Association of German Pfandbrief Banks (VDP) has introduced minimum standards for issuing green Pfandbriefe, a development that should help seal Germany’s position as a leading jurisdiction for green covered bond issuance.

Berlin Hyp, the German mortgage bank, this week set a new record with the most negative yielding covered bond, a transaction that should bolster the confidence of other borrowers who can no longer put off issuing such deals.

KfW brought its revamped green framework to the Norwegian krone market to print a deal on Tuesday. Later that week, strong demand from domestic and international investors let the issuer increase the note to a record breaking size, printing the largest Nokkie green bond across any asset class.

Aperam, the steel producer headquartered in Luxembourg, has entered the Schuldschein market, on the hunt for at least €100m.

German equity capital markets are likely to be quiet for the rest of the year amid a worsening outlook for the country’s economy, which has been battered by trade tensions between the US and China and is also highly exposed to the threat that UK may crash out of the EU without a deal in October.

Investors showed resistance to Germany's first ever 30 year bond sale without a coupon on Wednesday, as the total bids fell below the size of the trade. However, some analysts said the trade offered good value, with yields set to fall further as the European Central Bank prepares to inject fresh stimulus into the eurozone.

BerlinHyp (BHH) reopened the covered bond market after the summer break with a €1bn three year that yielded almost 20bp less than the European Central Bank’s deposit rate. The transaction could cause some issuers to reconsider their funding approach as the deal can profitably refinance liquidity borrowed under the last Targeted Longer-Term Refinancing Operation (TLTRO II).

Deutsche Pfandbriefbank announced on Friday that it is planning to meet investors in the sterling market next week to gauge appetite for a possible senior preferred bond.

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