The Netherlands

Socially responsible investment deals were the focus of attention in the primary SSA market this week, as the World Bank and the Flemish Community of Belgium sold well-received green and sustainability bonds, respectively. Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten and Eurofima have added to the public sector SRI pipeline, which is showing no signs of slowing down as the year end approaches.

The Netherland’s AVR has signed a €100m sustainable credit facility, with the waste to energy company pushing out maturities to up to seven years.

The Flemish Community of Belgium was twice covered for its debut sustainability bond on Monday, following the completion of a pan-European roadshow last week. Meanwhile, Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten has added to the SRI pipeline after mandating banks for its second sustainability trade of the year.

Rating: Aaa/AAA

Nederlandse Waterschapsbank (NWB) will look to fill the €1bn-€1.5bn it has left to raise this year with its annual water bond benchmark and potentially a short end benchmark. That is in keeping with the wider SSA market, where bankers expect socially responsible investment (SRI) issuance to form the bulk of this year’s final trades.

NIBC Bank issued its first ever bond transaction in sterling on Thursday after a dormant period for financial sector borrowers in the currency.

A strong order book allowed ING to raise €1.5bn on Thursday with the euro leg of its first ever green holdco bond — a size that was twice as large as any other financial institution has so far achieved with an unsecured green transaction in the currency.

Nederlandse Waterschapsbank will look to fill the €1bn-€1.5bn it has left to raise this year with its annual water bond benchmark and potentially a short end benchmark. That is in keeping with the wider SSA market, where bankers expect SRI issuance to form the bulk of the last trades this year.

ING is lining up its first ever sale of green bonds from its holding company, having made the unusual decision to sell a tranche of debt in dollars as well as euros.

Qiagen, the Dutch biotechnology company, has returned to the equity-linked market to sell a six year senior unsecured convertible bond with a similar call spread structure to one it sold in September 2017.

The European Financial Stability Facility has opted to tackle a part of the euro curve where KfW found substantial demand last week, with a trade that SSA bankers said should provide a steer on the health of the euro market. There was one positive sign for the sector on Monday, as a Dutch agency increased the size of an SRI bond from its initial target.

Green bond bankers believe the Dutch government’s decision to issue its first green bond next year will encourage other borrowers in the country to follow suit — even though many of the large bond issuers have already done so. They are speculating about whether the government might break its long habit and syndicate the bond — and also hope it will use the opportunity to set a template of best practice, writes Jon Hay.