Sweden

Mann+Hummel struggles in Schuldschein market amid splurge in auto trades — Bureau Veritas returns to USPP market — Seplat turns to loans for Eland buy — Endava swaps to syndicated sterling borrowing — Bravida refis revolver, eyes more buys

The branding may be on the way out, but there are plenty of reasons to be encouraged about the potential for real progress in the next phase of the Capital Markets Union.

Kommuninvest has added euros to its strategic funding markets for benchmark bonds alongside Swedish krona and dollars.

Sweden’s consideration of whether to issue a green bond has been careful and thorough, stretching over nearly three years and considering several objections. The Riksgälden (Swedish National Debt Office) is now determined to go ahead with a deal in 2020. Here, the Riksgälden answers GlobalCapital’s questions about its thinking.

The European Systemic Risk Board is concerned that covered bonds could be fuelling financial imbalances — a claim that some analysts find tenuous. They do, however, agree that house prices are overvalued, particularly in some Nordic countries where the ESRB has identified a risk of financial contagion.

Sweden has mandated SEB as structuring adviser on its debut green bond, to be issued in 2020. The announcement on Thursday morning for the first time puts a definite date on when Sweden will issue. The process of considering the idea has already taken nearly three years.

Investors have not completely shunned Libor-linked floating rate notes from public sector borrowers, as a trade from Swedish Export Credit Corp showed this week.

Deals set to be issued by the Province of Ontario and Development Bank of Japan on Wednesday attracted good demand, reflecting their higher yield relative to other dollar supra and agency bonds.

Kommuninvest kicked off the dollar market this week with a $1.25bn blowout, despite it being at record tight levels over Treasuries, according to a banker on the deal. Following on from Kommuninvest’s deal, a wide range of SSAs look to print across the curve, including rare issuer IDB Invest with its five year dollar bond debut.

Shares in EQT, the Swedish private equity firm, popped 25% on day one after its IPO was priced on the Nasdaq Stockholm on Tuesday — after what sources called a “targeted” IPO process.

The Province of British Columbia has weathered volatility from the fallout of last week's meeting of the US Federal Reserve to return to the dollar market for the first time in four years. Another rare SSA issuer, IDB Invest, also plans a return to the dollar market, with investor calls set up for this week ahead of its five year debut.

The City of Gothenburg plans to up its green bond issuance to two a year as part of Nordic public issuers’ wider push in the format. The Swedish municipality made its first visit to the green bond market this year on Tuesday, using its new green bond framework.