Nordics

Rating: Aa1/AA+

Municipality Finance is looking to publish its social bond framework this year ahead of a debut bond in the format, as it looks to extend its offering of socially responsible bonds.

Handelsbanken has appointed Juha Mustonen as its new head of debt capital markets for Finland. He will work with Finnish loan and bond clients.

Austrian agency Asfinag won a big order book on Tuesday, allowing it to price 3bp tighter than guidance, in a 10 year tenor the issuer hasn't accessed since 2009. Municipality Finance and the German federal state of Lower Saxony will add to the euro SSA supply on Wednesday with a 10 year green bond and a seven year benchmark, respectively.

This week's scorecard looks at the progress Nordic agencies have made at the end of June.

With the quarter’s end approaching and the G20 meeting starting on Friday, the primary market saw a busy period across all asset classes on Monday, as issuers rushed to frontload supply while Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB), Nykredit Realkredit and Société Générale lined up for deals in euros.

A trio of SSAs made the most of low yields in Danish kroner and Swedish kronor to print paper with coupons hovering around zero this week.

Saxo Bank has announced plans to sell its first tier two bond, outlining its expectations for pricing before opening the order books.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken did not have to pay a new issue premium amid favourable market conditions on Monday, after offering investors the chance to buy a new preferred senior bond.

Three Nordic banks and one British bank placed paper in Swedish krona this week. NatWest Markets made its debut in the currency, while Scandinavian-based Avida Finans printed its first AT1. Avida Finans plans to follow this debut AT1 with a future stock exchange listing.

SSA issuers are increasingly looking towards the Norwegian krone market as a hawkish Norges Bank, against the tide, raises rates. The European Investment Bank in particular has sharply increased its Nokkie issuance this year.

Issuance in Swedish kronor picked up this week, with three corporate issuers placing Skr6.28bn ($667.9m) across four private placements, as issuers looked to get in ahead of the midsummer break. In euros, a Dutch and French agency both placed paper, while protests in Hong Kong caused yields to spike in offshore Chinese renminbi and Hong Kong dollars.