Ireland

The primary market for peripheral European covered bonds leapt back to life this week after a 12 week hiatus, with investors queuing up to buy a series of deals that emerged in quick succession.

The Central Bank of Ireland has clarified rules governing investments by Ireland-registered UCITS funds that want to invest in China A-shares via the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect.

Issue rating: B2/B-

The Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive was supposed to be universally good for covered bonds because they are excluded from being bailed in. But on Wednesday and Thursday Moody’s and Fitch took opposing views on Allied Irish Banks due to the implementation of their methodologies that take account of the same new regime.

The outlook for peripheral covered bonds is still positive, and despite the disappointing result achieved by Bank of Ireland on Wednesday, bankers expect further supply.

Bank of Ireland has priced the third covered bond from Ireland this year and, in contrast to BNP Paribas which issued a 10 year deal on Tuesday, it paid a decent 3bp-4bp new issue premium for the seven year offering. Despite that, it was the issuer's least subscribed deal since 2012.

Lulled into a false sense of security by the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing programme, investors seem to think they are immune from events in Greece. It’s certainly true that markets are in much better shape than they were when the country was first bailed out in 2010. Investors in AIB Mortgage Bank’s latest deal would probably vouch for that.

After pulling a 10 year deal last year, AIB Mortgage Bank returned to the market on Tuesday to price a very successful seven year. At the same time its Spanish peer, Bankinter, chose to issue in the same 10 year maturity that foiled AIB last year. Both banks achieved a solid result suggesting better quality peripheral covered bond issuers have not been affected by events in Greece.

The European covered bond market kept up its momentum on Tuesday as four euro-denominated deals hit the screens and books were opened on another denominated in Australian dollars. The euro deals all offered a new issue concession of around 5bp and were comfortably oversubscribed.

Standard & Poor's upgraded the Ireland-based but German-owned Depfa Bank PLC to 'A-' from 'BBB' with a stable outlook on Monday. The state-owned bank can soon be considered a Government Related Entity (GRE) and will benefit from increased state support following a transfer of its ownership.

Covered bonds issuers in core and peripheral Europe will be aiming to finalise their 2014 funding needs in the next two weeks and others may be considering bringing forward their 2015 funding. As Irish and Belgian banks have been less active so far this year, there is a fair chance of supply from these regions. Covered bond research analysts have also recently reported on these markets.

Standard and Poor’s positive rating action on Depfa plc on Monday, and an expected rating upgrade from Moody’s that has yet to materialise, have had barely any impact on the issuer’s Irish covered bond spreads. The outlook should become clearer when further details of its ownership structure have emerged, bankers told The Cover on Tuesday.