Aktia Bank will take over from Aktia Real Estate Mortgage Bank as the Finnish group’s covered bond issuer, a move fuelled by regulatory and rating criteria changes that favour more “streamlined” universal bank issuance, the specialist issuer announced last Wednesday (12 September).

Ålandsbanken made its covered bond debut with a Eu200m dual tranche issue yesterday (Wednesday), and its group treasurer said it is pleased to have tapped the market after a lengthy lead-up.