The Netherlands

The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) sold the first offshore Bolivian boliviano bond last Friday. The currency-linked bond was structured by the Currency Exchange Fund (TCX), of which FMO is a part owner, and is part of a wider push to develop frontier capital markets.

Dutch insurers Achmea and ASR Nederland gave investors a rare chance to pick up Restricted Tier 1 (RT1) notes this week, with the latter having gone the extra mile to strengthen liquidity in its existing bonds.

Nederlandse Waterschapsbank has selected banks for a €500m 15 year no-grow water bond, in what will be its longest ever maturity for a green bond.

The Netherlands Development Finance Company debuted the first offshore Bolivian boliviano bond last Friday. Meanwhile on Monday, French agency Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations again returned to the ultra-long end to place a pair of callable euro notes.

ASR Nederland has asked its bondholders for permission to increase the size of its only restricted tier one (RT1) from €300m to €500m — a move that the Dutch insurer hopes will increase the ‘tradability and liquidity’ of the subordinated debt instrument.

Two of the largest shareholders in Fagron, the Belgian pharmaceutical and medical products company, have sold half their stake in the company for €84m via an unusual block trade that was placed with a single US long-only investor.

De Volksbank was three times subscribed for its debut green bond this week, despite not offering much in the way of yield or new issue premium to its investors.

The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), made its Uzbekistani som debut this week to take advantage of funds flowing into EM currencies thanks to low rates in dollars. Elsewhere, euro investors are looking at the ultra-long end of the SSA market.

ING sold a dollar-denominated additional tier one (AT1) this week, adding an influx of supply in the asset class in recent weeks. It will have the option to redeem its new bonds twice a year after the first call date, instead of the usual five years in all of its outstanding bonds.

Westpac placed just under HK$13.4bn into the Hong Kong market across two MTNs last week — the pair of bonds are its largest ever in the currency, according to Dealogic. The notes came in a busy week for niche issuance, and bankers have posited that this move into the peripheral markets comes as a response to the global fall in yields.

After issuing its biggest ever bond last week, Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten will wait until after the highly anticipated US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank meetings later this month before deciding what to do about its next benchmark new issue.

Rabobank launched an additional tier one (AT1) bond with a record low coupon in the euro market this week. The Dutch bank started with price thoughts of 3.625%, but tightened by 40bp to smash through the previous record of 3.5%, set by Nordea in 2017.