Tighter mortgage underwriting standards proposed by Norway’s FSA are credit positive for Norwegian covered bonds and banks, Moody’s said yesterday (Monday), highlighting a cap on loan-to-income ratio limits and lower LTV ratios.

Storebrand Boligkreditt repaid a maturing Norwegian krone covered bond two days late last week, according to Moody’s, which said that the payment delay was due to a technical error, is not considered a default, and has not affected the credit quality of the programme.

Norwegian covered bonds exposed to oil price-sensitive markets will be able to withstand the effects of persistent low prices thanks to sufficient levels of surplus OC, according to Moody’s, with the rating agency also noting that the relevant programmes should prove resilient to a consequent weakening of the Norwegian economy.

Fitch sees potential for upgrades of major Nordic banks in 2016, it said yesterday (Thursday), with SEB and Swedbank leading the positive outlook, although the timing of such rating actions would depend on how successfully sustainable long term performance and conservative credit risk profiles are balanced.

Standard & Poor’s upgraded Swedbank to AA- on Wednesday and revised its outlook on Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) from negative to stable, citing a belief that the Swedish government will still support systemically important banks’ senior creditors in spite of BRRD, but the rating agency also warned of heightened economic risks for Swedish banks.

Finland came second to Germany in a ranking by Moody’s of eight covered bond jurisdictions according to how they deal with the consequences of an issuer default, with Norway and Sweden being placed mid-table.

Denmark and Sweden are among six countries where in DBRS’s view covered bonds are a particularly important funding instrument, meaning that issuers from the countries can be eligible for the highest possible uplift from their senior unsecured rating under an updated methodology the rating agency finalised last week.

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.

Standard & Poor’s upgraded Iceland’s main banks into investment grade territory on Tuesday, saying it expectations operating conditions for Icelandic banks to improve on the back of measures proposed by the government to enable the eventual lifting of the country’s capital controls.

Systemic risks in Sweden’s mortgage market are increasing, Fitch said on Wednesday, adding that any disruptions could hit the wider banking sector, although it noted that banks are mitigating the risks while households have good debt servicing capabilities and rated banks are strongly capitalised.