LBBW

German snack food company Intersnack has launched a €150m-equivalent Schuldschein with euro and sterling tranches — evidence, market players said, of the flexibility of the instrument.

German car leasing company Sixt has raised €200m in the Schuldschein market, part of which was sold through Helaba’s platform, VC Trade. As the market digitises, two platforms — one promoted by Helaba and one by LBBW — are pulling ahead of the pack. But three other platforms are nipping at their heels, positioning themselves where the other two find it harder to reach.

German car leasing company Sixt has raised €200m in the Schuldschein market, part of which was sold through Helaba’s platform, VC Trade. As the market digitises, two platforms — one promoted by Helaba and one by LBBW — are pulling ahead of the pack.

Baumarkt, the German DIY retailer, has launched a Schuldschein via Debtvision, LBBW’s digital platform.

The European Securities and Markets Authority recently fined a clutch of Nordic banks for breaking credit rating regulations. The decision could have implications for the Schuldschein market — where arranging banks issue similar ratings to investors.

The European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) decision to fine five Nordic banks last week has raised two questions: just how consistently will rules be applied across Europe, and is it even appropriate that they are?

HSBC Germany has launched a digital platform for Schuldschein issuance called Synd-X, following in the footsteps of Helaba and LBBW. But unlike its German peers, it aims to preserve the role of banks as gatekeepers to the market.

LBBW’s debut green Pfandbrief attracted a larger order book from a wider set of international investors compared with a vanilla deal, suggesting the bonds have good scope to perform relative to ordinary deals.

LBBW has mandated leads for its first Pfandbrief secured on green mortgages. The transaction follows a similar deal last week from DNB Boligkreditt and comes after LBBW’s inaugural green senior deal launched in December 2017. Several other covered bonds are expected next week.

Bank of China’s Luxembourg branch has signed a $1.05bn syndicated loan after launching the deal at half that amount in the latest display of lenders scrambling to allocate funds.

Rating: Aa1/—/AAA

LBBW and the Stuttgart Stock Exchange have created a Schuldschein digital technology platform called Debtvision, with all the grand ambition and fanfare that Helaba exhibited when launching its rival VC Trade system in March. Whether the town is big enough for the both of them remains to be seen.