Aktia Bank issued a Eu500m no-grow five year covered bond on Monday, with an official at the issuer noting that the deal gained traction quickly, allaying some nervousness about how it would fare after softening in the wider market late last week.
Finland’s OP-Pohjola Group is seeking to fully acquire Pohjola Bank, having today (Thursday) announced a tender offer for all the shares of the bank that it does not already own.
Aktia has roadshowed its new Aktia Bank plc covered bond programme and Crédit Agricole CIB senior covered bond analyst Florian Eichert explores the differences between this and previous Aktia Real Estate Mortgage Bank covered bonds.
Svenska Handelsbanken is set to become the third Nordic issuer to tap the Samurai market within the space of a month, with soft marketing for the Swedish bank’s debut, senior unsecured issue expected to start tomorrow (Friday).
Pohjola Bank is set to launch its first Samurai issue in the coming weeks, with the Finnish issuer having visited Japan for a deal-related roadshow ahead of the planned senior unsecured transaction.
Norway’s SpareBank 1 Boligkreditt was one of four issuers to launch benchmark euro covered bonds this week despite market conditions remaining tricky after the recent turn in sentiment, while Aktia Bank has embarked upon a roadshow ahead of a debut in its new guise.
Timo Ruotsalainen, managing director, Aktia Real Estate Mortgage Bank, gave Nordic FIs & Covered an update about the Finnish group’s switch to issuing directly out of Aktia Bank, and discussed other developments.
Nordic issuers Pohjola Bank and Nordea tapped into a global rally to price senior unsecured issues in the euro and dollar markets, respectively, on Tuesday, with each achieving attractive levels, according to lead syndicate officials.
Moody’s published a credit assessment of Finland’s legal framework for covered bonds on Tuesday, highlighting several strengths of the country’s market, but citing weaknesses with respect to cover pool monitors and to covered bondholders’ rights over certain overcollateralisation.
Moody’s affirmed Aktia Bank at A3 yesterday (Wednesday), but revised the outlook from stable to negative, a move that an Aktia official said was to be expected given that the bank will no longer be the central credit institution for the POP and savings banks in Finland.