Swiss Francs

Citi marketing the first international Swiss franc deal in over a month

Swiss franc issuance is increasing following the end of the summer break, with bankers expecting a minimum of four deals to grace the market next week. Banque Cantonale du Valais and EGW looked to get in ahead of this rush with a pair of long dated transactions on Wednesday.

Pfandbriefbank Schweizerischer Hypothekarinstitute woke up the Swiss franc market on Tuesday by selling the first bond in almost a fortnight.

All Swiss franc new issues are set to switch over to the market’s new risk-free rate after the summer break, local syndicate desks have announced.

Covered bond primary activity slowed to a trickle in euros on Wednesday as DekaBank issued an oversubscribed sub-benchmark sized five year public sector covered bond amid a pick-up in European Central Bank purchases. At the same time, Muenchener Hyp (MuHyp) tapped the Swiss franc market in the wake of a four part Sfr910m ($992m) deal issued on Tuesday by Swiss Pfandbriefbank.

Bank of Nova Scotia ended a six year absence from the senior segment of the Swiss market to print a 10 year bond on Monday.

LGT Bank, a private bank owned by the Princely House of Liechtenstein, priced its return to non-preferred format in under two hours on Monday, while managing to bump up the size and land inside fair value.

Kantonsspital Graubünden sold a successful debut bond on Thursday, surprising bankers as it slipped in before the summer break.

Macquarie sold its first group level bond in the Swiss franc market on Thursday, harnessing an “astonishing” number of investors to twice increase the size and land inside its euro curve.

The Bank of Nova Scotia’s Chilean subsidiary turned to the Swiss franc for its debut international bond sale on Tuesday, achieving a cost of funding well inside what it could have achieved in the domestic market.

Macquarie announced the mandate on Wednesday for its first group level Swiss franc bond, to be sold in the coming days.

Gazprom ended a three year absence from the Swiss franc market this week by attracting a large amount of retail participation in a Sfr600m ($653.4m) deal that launched at an attractive spread.