The expected implementation in Norway of a resolution regime equivalent to the EU Bank Recovery & Resolution Directive (BRRD) will result in Norwegian covered bonds having less exposure to bank defaults and losses, Moody’s said last Friday (14 August), highlighting the rating benefits this has led to.

Pohjola Bank turned to the Swedish krona market to raise Tier 2 debt on Tuesday after having retreated from a planned euro issue in June, and in doing so sold a Skr3.5bn FRN that is the largest single-tranche Tier 2 in the Swedish market and which market participants said offered savings for the Finnish issuer.

The latest Danish quarterly sales of bonds to refinance adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) achieved healthy bid-to-cover ratios after Nykredit Realkredit kicked off activity on Monday, with longer dated paper offering relatively high spreads particularly well bid.

Stadshypotek sold a £300m three year FRN covered bond on Monday, proving that the sterling market is an appealing option for issuers and printing at a tighter price than could have been achieved in the domestic market, according to bankers.

Swedbank launched the first Nordic senior unsecured euro benchmark since May on Tuesday, taking advantage of a quiet market to print a Eu500m five year floating rate note, but bankers predicted that euro benchmark supply would remain slim in the summer holiday season.

Danish and Swedish mortgage-backed covered bonds will generally benefit from a maximum six possible jurisdiction-related notches of uplift from their issuer rating under Scope Ratings’ methodology, it said last Friday (31 July) when indicating how Europe’s five largest covered bond jurisdictions will be treated under its methodology.

The volume of one year adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) bonds is set to fall again when Danish mortgage credit institutions hold their latest quarterly refinancing sales later this month, with Nykredit having yesterday (Thursday) announced a sharp reduction in its auctions of such bonds.

With the market entering the middle of the continental European summer lull, benchmark covered bond or senior supply is unlikely to resume until after next week at the earliest despite generally supportive conditions, according to syndicate bankers, with Nordic issuers expected to wait until the investor base returns to the office.