Sweden

Swedbank and SEB this week launched deals that attracted the largest order books and the widest distribution of any covered bonds issued this year, along with the smallest concessions.

Stockholm County Council has selected four banks for a green bond roadshow, beginning on February 8, with a view to selling a euro green bond.

Swedbank was set to issue a €1.25bn five year covered bond on Wednesday. The deal attracted more investors than any other covered bond this year, and a larger volume of orders. The new issue concession was small, but the deal’s success was driven by a yield nearly 0.5% more than OBLs

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) funded itself more cheaply with a 15 year covered bond than it did with a five year this week. It followed Swedish Covered Bond Corporation (SCBC) which issued at the same spread as earlier deals despite a market widening.

Two covered bond issuers from Sweden and Germany launched euro benchmarks on Tuesday. Both transactions were healthily oversubscribed, but with a wider starting spread, Swedish Covered Bond Corporation (SCBC) was able to issue a much larger volume, and tighten pricing during the bookbuild.

Kommuninvest has selected three banks to arrange a roadshow to introduce its green bond framework, with a view to issuing a debut trade in the format this quarter.

Sweden’s largest oil refiner, Corral Petroleum Holdings, is in talks with lenders to renew a $1.8bn revolving credit facility — but first, it needs to refinance its 2017 dollar and euro payment-in-kind notes.

Svenska Handelsbanken

Swedish telecommunications company Tele2 has retained all of the original lenders as it refinances a €800m revolving credit facility.

European Investment Bank (EIB) sold its first Climate Awareness Bond denominated in Swedish kronor for the year on Monday, printing a five year note, after selling its first green bond in euros for 2016 on January 5.

Kommuninvest and Oesterreichische Kontrollbank are set to bring deals at the short end of the dollar curve on Tuesday — by which time leads are hoping Monday’s turbulent swap spreads will have calmed.

Another foreign issuer has joined the German Schuldschein market, as Sweden's Saab signs its first ever deal. It was arranged by two non-German banks.