Standard & Poor’s on Tuesday placed Nykredit and DLR Kredit on CreditWatch Negative but affirmed its ratings of fellow Danish banks Jyske, Danske and Nordea Bank Danmark, after completing a review relating to the potential withdrawal of government support for the banking sector under the Bank Recovery & Resolution Directive.
The Swedish FSA (Finansinspektionen) has published a methodology for assessing three types of risk under Pillar 2 – credit-related concentration risk, interest rate risk in the banking book, and pension risk – that will be used in capital requirements from the third quarter.
Pohjola Bank achieved investor diversification through a debut syndicated sterling deal on Tuesday, a £700m (Eu976m) dual-tranche issue that benefited from positive sentiment that followed a decisive UK election result while volatility hit the euro market.
SpareBank 1 SR-Bank is planning a debut, domestic covered bond through new 100% subsidiary SR-Boligkreditt later this month or early June ahead of potential international issuance, as it shifts away from SpareBank 1 Boligkreditt (SpaBol) to optimise funding and for regulatory reasons.
Swedbank Hypotek dispensed with the 144A format it previously used for dollar-denominated issuance when it launched a $1bn (Eu883m, Skr8.23bn) five year Reg S issue on Wednesday, with flexibility cited as a reason for the move.
Nykredit and other Danish covered bond issuers are introducing a new, simplified model to handle redemptions of callable bonds with annuity cashflows, writes Jørn Strunge, senior business analyst, Nykredit.
The Central Bank of Savings Banks Finland (Sp Central Bank) on Tuesday sold an inaugural Eu500m five year senior unsecured bond, reopening wholesale funding for the Savings Banks Group and achieving the issuer’s target of building a large, highly granular order book.
Sparebanken Vest Boligkreditt on Wednesday sold the first Norwegian euro benchmark covered bond of the year, a Eu500m seven year that achieved tighter pricing than some market participants had expected, and an official at the Norwegian issuer said it may become a more frequent visitor to euros.
Länsförsäkringar Hypotek sold a Eu500m (Skr4.64bn) seven year covered bond at the tight end of its pricing expectations yesterday (Thursday), according to an official at the issuer, who said that it timed its deal to avoid competing supply from the Nordics and elsewhere.
A move by Finnish banks to allow households amortisation-free periods on their mortgages free of charge is a short term boon for Finland’s economy, but could pose a long term risk to the banking system, Moody’s warned on Monday.