Swiss Francs

Intense demand in the Swiss franc bond market for any asset with a positive yield — or even anything yielding more than the penal negative rates on cash — gave a varied group of issuers this week execution that pushed the boundaries — bigger, faster and tighter.

A pair of investment grade issuers made rare appearances in niche currency bond markets this week. Deutsche Telekom returned to the Swiss franc market after a 10 year absence, while Hitachi Capital UK made its debut in rand.

The Swiss franc bond market has had a roaring start to the year, which bankers suggest may be a sign Swiss investors are switching from equity to debt. This week’s standout trades came from Hyundai Capital, National Australia Bank and Chilean financial services company Tanner, while Münchener Hypothekenbank sold a first green Swiss franc bond on Thursday.

A diverse combination of an international historical stalwart and a handful of usual suspects from the domestic market ensured a solid start to the year for the Swiss franc bond market.

The Swiss franc bond market has been able to withstand — just — the destructive forces of negative rates and yields and is looking forward to a new year in which green structures are set to blossom. Philip Moore reports

Building on the success of last week’s multi-tranche Sfr1.1bn ($1.1bn) trade, Pfandbriefbank (PS Hypo) rounded off its funding for 2019 on Monday, with a low-key two-tranche Sfr310m issue.

Compelling evidence emerged this week showing how much liquidity local investors are still looking to deploy in the Swiss franc market as the year’s end looms. On Monday, it took just 45 minutes for books to open and close on three clips of Pfandbriefbank paper.

It is hard to think of a more suitable candidate to have opened the Swiss franc market for additional tier one (AT1) issuance to foreign borrowers than Munchener Hypothekenbank (MunHyp). With a loan book in Switzerland of just over Sfr5bn ($5.01bn), the Munich-based mortgage bank is one of the few international borrowers with a natural funding requirement in Swiss francs, which is why it has been a prolific issuer in the currency over the past year.

Pfandbriefzentrale issued its largest ever bond this week, a Sfr1.386bn ($1.398bn) triple-tranche deal that included a Sfr980m 12 year tranche that was itself the largest single issue in the Swiss franc bond market this year.

The Swiss franc primary bond market enjoyed a week of notable firsts, new records and diversity this week across the corporate, cantonal and financial institutions sectors.

A rise in the Swiss swap curve and an improvement in cross-currency dynamics helped momentum created by a well-received Citi trade last Friday to be carried over into this week. Three familiar FIG names returned to the market on Monday, including Chile’s Banco de Credito e Inversiones (BCI).

Switzerland’s largest private and commercial vehicle leasing company starred in an otherwise quiet market for Swiss franc issuance this week.