Germany

Muenchener Hypothekenbank has mandated leads for a rare 20 year covered bond benchmark, the first from a German issuer this year and only the third from the whole market. Rates have collapsed rendering the recently popular 15 year tenor less attractive.

European banks could be set for a wave of calls and tenders on legacy debt instruments, after the European Banking Authority demanded a clean-up this week. Action may not be immediate, however, with markets still seeking clarity on a number of key issues.

DZ Hyp returned to the covered bond market for the fourth time this year on Thursday to issue a €1bn eight year mortgage Pfandbrief. The deal showed that any uncertainty over the relative value of covered bonds has been firmly swept away after the European Union’s blow out debut earlier this week.

Aareal Bank issued a short six year Pfandbrief on Wednesday at a deeply negative yield and with a negative concession. Investor demand was impressive, illustrating that Pfandbriefe, twinned with Aareal’s loan origination standards, were sufficient to offset any concern over the hotel and retail exposures in its collateral pool. At the same time DZ Hyp has mandated leads for an eight year Pfandbrief.

A proposed change to the Pfandbrief law introducing a soft bullet maturity is designed to harmonise Germany’s covered bond regime with the rest of Europe’s, as envisaged under the EU’s Covered Bond Directive. However, it could highlight the vast differences in how soft bullet covered bonds are repaid following extension triggers.

The European Central Bank said this week that it thought a stronger role for countercyclical capital buffers would be key in making sure that banks use their available resources to boost lending in times of crisis.

German e-commerce company Fashionette, which sells designer handbags and accessories online, has set a price range for its IPO on the Frankfurt stock exchange.

The impact of Covid-19 lockdowns on the hotel and retail loans securing German Pfandbriefe is likely to present serious challenges. But conservative lending and high interest rate coverage ratios provide solid protection, so managing a prospective rise in risk-weighted assets will likely be the bigger challenge for certain issuers, said bankers on Tuesday.

Investors crowded into a €929.3m trade in German remote access software company TeamViewer, as Permira returned to the market to sell down more shares in the company.

Guarantor: Federal Republic of Germany

It was a moderate week for supply in the primary euro public sector bond market but the issuers that did come found ample demand, setting up a decent backdrop for the expected arrival of the European Union’s big borrowing programme next week.

After an extensive marketing period, done with the intention of issuing a benchmark sized deal, Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall’s first Pfandbrief, issued on Thursday, attracted more demand, at a tighter spread and a longer duration than a Pfandbrief its compatriot building society, Wüstenrot Bausparkasse, issued this week.