On Tuesday of last week (10 June) the European Banking Authority (EBA) held a public hearing on covered bonds where it presented plans for risk weight recommendations to the European Commission as well as covered bond best practice recommendations to the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) in front of roughly 50 participants from around Europe.

Swedbank has received approval from Finansinspektionen, the Swedish financial supervisory authority, to use the advanced internal ratings-based (A-IRB) approach for corporate exposures in Norway and Sweden, it announced on Monday.

A leaked European Commission paper on LCRs includes new issuer rating eligibility criteria for covered bonds that, if implemented, would result in some double-A issues not being Level 1 eligible, and some single-A issues excluded entirely. Meanwhile, the final decision on rules is likely to be delayed until after the summer.

Pohjola Bank launched its first fixed rate senior unsecured transaction in the Swiss franc market on Monday, a Sfr300m (Eu246m) seven year deal that ends a run of four deals in three weeks for the OP-Pohjola group, following a benchmark covered bond, a euro senior benchmark, and a Samurai.

Crédit Agricole covered bond analysts weigh the covered bond implications of extraordinary measures announced by the European Central Bank for covered bonds. The market will remain a seller’s market, but the impact on issuance volumes will not be as dramatic as some might expect, they say.

Svenska Handelsbanken priced a $1.4bn (Eu1bn, Skr9.4bn) dual tranche five year senior unsecured transaction on Tuesday, raising funding at a much lower cost than that available in euros to highlight a large arbitrage in play between the markets, according to a banker away from the leads.

Jyske Bank priced a well-received Eu500m (Dkr3.73bn) three year senior unsecured FRN in a rare visit to the euro benchmark market yesterday (Wednesday), with the deal also its first public euro issue since the Danish bank’s merger with BRFkredit in April.

Pohjola Bank launched the tightest five year senior unsecured euro benchmark of the year on Tuesday, a Eu750m issue that the OP-Pohjola head of group funding said was an opportunistic trade to take advantage of a receptive market.

Danske Bank priced its first euro covered bond in over a year on Tuesday, a Eu1bn seven year deal whose pricing illustrates the outperformance of Danish issues in the Nordic market, according to a lead syndicate banker.

Attractive market conditions ahead of an ECB meeting today (Thursday) proved tempting for issuers this week as six euro benchmarks over Tuesday and Wednesday made for the busiest two days in covered bonds this year, with Finland’s OP Mortgage Bank coming tightest of the lot.