NordLB

Public sector borrowers wasted no time in getting back to business in the euro market in 2021 with one live deal and four mandates all hitting screens on Monday as issuers look to take advantage of an almost full trading week and a supportive market to make a dent in their brand new funding programmes.

Investors holding the covered bonds issued by NordLB in Luxembourg said on Wednesday that they were concerned about prospective rating downgrades after the bank said it would be wound down and in the wake of Fitch’s announcement on Tuesday that it had withdrawn its covered bond rating.

KfW mandated banks for a seven year euro benchmark on Monday, a deal which was already expected to arrive this week and could well be the German agency’s final public deal in the currency this year.

KfW could be set to hit screens with a euro benchmark next week in what may be its final public deal in the currency this year, according to bankers. The bond is likely to come with a seven year maturity, a tenor that the Free State of Saxony struggled with on Thursday, finishing with the book only around half covered.

Two public sector borrowers managed to get euro deals done in the primary market ahead of the European Central Bank’s governing council meeting on Thursday, with World Bank issuing its biggest ever bond in euros longer than 10 years and Hamburg comfortably crossing the line despite an embarrassing start to the execution process.

The City of Hamburg began taking indications of interest with initial price thoughts for a 30 year bond on Wednesday afternoon ahead of schedule after one of the leads accidentally sent out a message announcing the official opening of order books.

Ex-Barclays banker joins Finsbury to develop equity advisory — Laubjerg hired for natural resources at HSBC — Rousseau leaves Deutsche and joins Citi

All eyes in the primary euro public sector bond market are fixed on the expected arrival of Germany's green Bund this week, but there were still some other deals announced on Tuesday. Greece is sticking to its plan for a syndicated bond issuance every quarter and Berlin hopes to match the success of its compatriot Land NRW in the 30 year part of the curve.

A former sovereign, supranational and agency bond trader at Commerzbank has joined NordLB after an almost two year hiatus from the capital markets.

Rating: Aa1/AA/AAA

The State of North Rhine-Westphalia and Nederlandse Waterschapsbank rebooted the long of the euro SSA curve on Wednesday with well subscribed deals and minimal new issue premiums.

The State of North Rhine-Westphalia and Nederlandse Waterschapsbank will be the first two public sector borrowers to test investors’ appetite for euro deals in the long end of the curve following the summer break.