Nordics

Municipality Finance scored a series of firsts on Thursday with an instrument that is typically the preserve of the bank market — setting a path that leads on the deal believe others could follow.

Swedbank defied a tricky market on Tuesday to raise €1.25bn in five year covered bonds, in a deal described by a rival banker as “outstanding”.

The Swedish bank has mandated leads for a five year benchmark that is expected to be launched on Tuesday. This will be its second deal in euros this year and its fourth overall.

Norwegian lender, SR-Boligkreditt issued its first euro covered bond on Monday, a €500m five year. The transaction offered a tempting spread pick-up to where Sparebank Vest issued an identical transaction last week thereby ensuring a strong reception, despite challenging market conditions.

Danica Pension on Monday was first to test the FIG market since the US Federal Reserve's rates announcement last week when it opened books on its subordinated tier two notes.

Finnvera

Covered bond issuers failed to take heed of poor market conditions and, just like lemmings, followed one another with poorly performing deals this week.

Municipality Finance is set to hit the road to showcase an upcoming debut in the additional tier one (AT1) market — and at least one other European agency could follow suit.

Statkraft, the Norwegian state electricity company, made a successful venture into an uncertain corporate bond market with a defensive €500m no-grow bond on Monday.

Swedish group Akelius Residential Property on Wednesday sold €300m of unsecured notes with speculative grade ratings, entirely to investment grade investors.

A European agency outlined size expectations on Wednesday for an inaugural visit to the additional tier one (AT1) market, after mandating for the deal earlier in the day.

Finnvera took its first ever billion sized bite of a core currency bond on Tuesday, enticing investors with a juicy pick-up over its sovereign’s curve.