Nordics

Nykredit Realkredit was one of the smallest banks looking to get funding away in a busy euro market on Tuesday, but it was able to command the attention of investors without needing to offer a higher spread.

Guarantor: All Danish municipalities and regions

KfW brought its revamped green framework to the Norwegian krone market to print a deal on Tuesday. Later that week, strong demand from domestic and international investors let the issuer increase the note to a record breaking size, printing the largest Nokkie green bond across any asset class.

KommuneKredit failed to set the market alight with the first euro syndicated public sector bond since mid-July, excluding deals from German Laender. The Danish agency only managed to sell €500m for the 11 year benchmark and was unable to tighten the spread during pricing.

Danish agency KommuneKredit mandated banks on Monday for its first euro-denominated bond of the year and the first euro syndicated public sector bond since mid-July, excluding German regions.

Medicover is on the hunt for at least €100m of funding in the Schuldschein market. The Swedish healthcare company joins a growing number of Nordic borrowers looking to tap the German loans market.

Sparebanken Vest (SparVest) on Thursday became the fourth Norwegian bank to publish a green bond framework and one of the first to publish a framework that is aligned with the European Union’s proposed standards for green bonds.

Sweden broke new ground on Wednesday by selling a new 10 year bond with a negative yield for the first time. Investors are pouring into haven assets amid mounting concerns over both the domestic and global economies.

Participants in the financial institutions bond market had expected that issuers could hit screens with new transactions as early as this week, but so far macroeconomic and political uncertainty has discouraged them from putting investor appetite to the test this summer.

Volumes are growing across the spectrum in the Scandinavian MTN markets, as issuers and bankers return from their summer holidays. Meanwhile, bankers are expecting Scandinavian investors to move further out along the credit curve in response to negative yields as dovish Nordic central bank tones could lead to a bullish Scandinavian market.

This week's scorecard looks at the progress Nordic agencies have made in their 2019 funding programmes.

Finland’s Municipality Finance is hoping to receive increased demand for its bonds from insurance companies, following a recent amendment to the Solvency II regulation.