Nordics

OP Corporate Bank and Standard Chartered were looking to add to a flurry of recent tier two issuance on Tuesday. The asset class has found itself in a sweet spot in terms of its regulatory and financial value during the coronavirus pandemic.

DNB entered 2020 better capitalised than ever, and having taken the opportunity to get ahead with its regulatory funding at the end of last year, it was also better financed than ever. Even so, following the regulator's decision to delay implementation of MREL target by one year, DNB could return to the covered bond market in the latter half of 2020.

Denmark has made public the mandate it had given earlier this year to three banks to help it prepare to issue the world’s most unusual green bond, as the work is getting to a more advanced stage. A political decision to issue might come towards the end of this year.

Rating: A2/A/A

There was bumper demand for Iceland’s euro deal on Wednesday that saw nearly 200 investors pour into a deal that exceeded expectations to tighten by 30bp.

France received its biggest ever order book as it came to the market for a 20 year syndication on Tuesday. SSA bankers say that investors are looking for duration after previously sticking to defensive maturities as the Covid-19 crisis eases.

Covered bond investors wasted little time in placing big orders on Tuesday for the largest ever green deal issued in Swedish kronor — a five year floating rate transaction secured on energy efficient mortgages from Sparebank 1 Boligkreditt (Spabol). At the same time, Credit Mutuel Arkéa issued a long 10 year with blow-out demand, reflecting a material concern that covered bond supply, net of central bank purchases and redemptions, will be deeply negative this year.

A supranational and a Nordic bank paid rare visits to the Swiss franc market this week. The North American Development Bank (NADB) printed its first deal in two years — its second green bond — while Nordea returned after a five year absence.

Nykredit tapped its 1% callable covered bond due 2050 on Wednesday to take it up to Dkr100bn (€13.4bn), making it the biggest long-dated covered bond ever publicly issued in Europe and highlighting the availability of long-dated funding for banks looking for alternatives to the glut of central bank liquidity made available to fight the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The recent maturity of a large Nokkie line released NOK9bn ($904.5m) into the market last week, with some foreign investors eager to reinvest in attractive short end paper.

Norway’s debut syndicated tap went off with a bang on Tuesday, attracting a bumper Nkr37bn ($3.7bn) order book. The deal’s success was driven in part by increased demand from foreign investors for Norwegian govvies.

Scatec Solar, one of the few pure play renewable energy companies listed in Europe, has sold Nkr1.96bn ($192m) of new stock to finance investments in green power plants.