Germany

Coming to the jumbo covered bond market for the second time in three months, Eurohypo yesterday (Monday) priced this year’s largest benchmark, and the second with a seven year maturity.

Eurohypo is today (Monday) pulling off a “blow-out” deal, according to a syndicate official away from the leads.

The legal framework for Pfandbriefe backed by airplane loans is complete, after regulations setting out how the collateral value of airplanes is to be determined came into effect on Friday.

Despite being downgraded by Moody’s yesterday (Wednesday), Bayerische Landesbank welcomed a statement from the rating agency that it said showed the bank was “on the right track”.

Westfälische Landschaft Bodenkreditbank yesterday (Wednesday) seized on a favourable issuance window to make one of its rare appearances on the jumbo covered bond market. The issuer was rewarded with what appears to be the biggest order book for a Pfandbrief benchmark so far this year in spite of punchy pricing.

Despite considering a new issue, La Caixa looks unlikely to follow-up on Monday’s reopening of the Spanish market by Santander, but a French issuer is instead said to be due to launch a benchmark deal today (Wednesday).

WestLB said yesterday (Tuesday) that it will sell Westdeutsche ImmobilienBank as part of a plan to halve its asset base and restructure its ownership in exchange for European Commission approval of its state aid.

Standard & Poor’s yesterday (Tuesday) downgraded Eurohypo’s rating from A to A-, on negative outlook.

Westfälische Landschaft Bodenkreditbank is due to price the first jumbo Pfandbrief since mid-March today (Wednesday) at a level much tighter than the last benchmark public sector Pfandbrief. But bankers and investors warned that other issuers are unlikely to be able to repeat this feat.

Fitch on Friday took rating actions on five subsidiaries of Commerzbank, including Eurohypo and its Luxembourg subsidiary, following the European Commission’s conditional approval of Germany’s state aid for Commerzbank.

HSH Nordbank’s Schiffspfandbriefe have been downgraded by Moody’s from Aaa to Aa3, but the rating agency affirmed the Aaa rating of the bank’s public sector covered bonds. It also lowered the Timely Payment Indicator of the Schiffspfandbriefe.

Standard & Poor’s yesterday (Wednesday) downgraded five German Landesbanks by one to two notches, and revised the outlook on a sixth. Two of the Landesbanks in question hit back at the rating agency’s actions.