L-Bank

The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) became on Wednesday afternoon the latest SSA name to attempt to borrow three year money from dollar investors. The supranational credit followed German agency, L-Bank, which priced its first dollar benchmark since April 2012 on Wednesday afternoon.

L-Bank took advantage of investor hunger for the safe haven of German issuers on Wednesday morning to print a €1bn five year at what the issuer, Baden-Württemberg’s development bank, says is the best pricing to swaps it has ever achieved for a euro benchmark of this tenor.

Several borrowers are lining up benchmarks despite a decline in investor sentiment this week. Issuers face a choice between risking potentially tough conditions and overcrowding to get funding done ahead of September — a month they fear could be a disaster — or waiting.

Several SSA credits in core Europe launched sterling bonds on Wednesday, taking advantage of improved investor sentiment in recent weeks and a window ahead of the Bank of England rate announcement on Thursday and non-farm payrolls the day after.

The past two weeks have produced a spate of short-dated floating rate notes from German agencies, as investors flocked to defensive deals. Bankers expect the level of demand to drive more issuance.