Rabobank

Rating: Aaa/AAA

Nederlandse Waterschapsbank (NWB) will look to fill the €1bn-€1.5bn it has left to raise this year with its annual water bond benchmark and potentially a short end benchmark. That is in keeping with the wider SSA market, where bankers expect socially responsible investment (SRI) issuance to form the bulk of this year’s final trades.

The European Financial Stability Facility has opted to tackle a part of the euro curve where KfW found substantial demand last week, with a trade that SSA bankers said should provide a steer on the health of the euro market. There was one positive sign for the sector on Monday, as a Dutch agency increased the size of an SRI bond from its initial target.

Green bond bankers believe the Dutch government’s decision to issue its first green bond next year will encourage other borrowers in the country to follow suit — even though many of the large bond issuers have already done so. They are speculating about whether the government might break its long habit and syndicate the bond — and also hope it will use the opportunity to set a template of best practice, writes Jon Hay.

A megayacht of a trade from KfW this week suggested that potential headwinds — including the end of quantitative easing, Italy’s reckoning with the European Commission and Angela Merkel’s plan to step away from politics — are failing to sink sentiment in the euro market. But some SSA bankers warned that the trade was more just proof that KfW can float in these conditions — and that an upcoming deal for the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) will be a better buoy for the sector’s currents.

The Netherlands plans to join the burgeoning list of sovereign green bond issuers and could become the first triple-A rated country in the group. Whether the bond will be via syndication or the country's preferred auction method has yet to be decided. Meanwhile, two of the country’s public sector SRI borrowers were busy in the format this week.

Kernel, the Ukrainian powerhouse producer of sunflower oil and agricultural products, has boosted and extended its $200m pre-export revolving credit facility.

This week the Netherlands took a major step towards becoming the latest European country to introduce a law enabling banks to issue senior non-preferred debt. And earlier this month the UK government closed a consultation for its own law to introduce the instrument.

Public sector bond market participants are growing increasingly frustrated at the pace of the implementation of Ester, the alternative euro risk-free rate to replace Euribor. Borrowers are unable to plan for, let alone issue, a bond linked to the benchmark without the rate being published by the European Central Bank. That leaves the euro far behind other markets where Libor is being replaced, writes Burhan Khadbai.

India’s UPL Corp has launched a $3bn five year term loan into general syndication to support its acquisition of Arysta LifeScience.

Rabobank has made an internal appointment to replace its head of FIG and SSA debt capital markets.

Energy and commodities trader Mercuria is back in the loan market for its annual fundraising, seeking a $1.1bn multi-tranche borrowing.