A brief payment delay on a covered bond from Norway’s Sør Boligkreditt that matured last month and which was due to an operational error has no credit impact and is extremely unlikely to happen again, according to Moody’s, which rates the issuer’s covered bonds Aaa.
Moody’s noted that the soft bullet mechanism used by SCBC for the first time on a Eu1bn covered bond launched on Tuesday of last week (30 September) reduces fire-sale risk associated with covered bonds in the event of default, which is the major driver of cover pool losses.
Changes to capital requirements announced by the Norwegian ministry of finance that are in line with the latest EU Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) are credit positive for the country’s banks, Moody’s said today (Thursday), in that they will strengthen the financial institutions’ capital buffers.
Moody’s changed its outlook on the Danish banking system from negative to stable yesterday (Wednesday) because of a continuing stabilisation of the operating environment and reduced risks for Danish financial institutions, with covered bond developments seen as key.
The designation of DNB, Nordea Bank Norge and Kommunalbanken as systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs) by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance is credit positive, Moody’s said on Monday, noting that an FSA proposal to include regional players was not taken up.
Moody’s upgraded Aktia Real Estate Mortgage Bank covered bonds from Aa3 to Aa2 on Tuesday after designating the covered bond anchor point the senior unsecured rating plus one notch.
The impact of the Norwegian housing market on covered bonds has been an ongoing topic for quite some time now. After strong growth of over 300% in the last 20 years, we’ve started to see the beginning of a correction in Norwegian house prices more recently.
A bill providing for the conditional maturity extension on certain Danish covered bonds removes refinancing risk for covered bond issuers and will have a “marked” credit positive impact on Nordea Kredit covered bonds, said Moody’s on Monday.
Norwegian chief financial officers proved more bearish than their peers in their responses to a variety of questions posed by Moody’s in a survey of 39 Nordic CFOs, with an increase in banking regulation highlighted as a key factor potentially constraining their institutions.
Moody’s placed the A2 rating of SBAB Bank on review for downgrade on Tuesday, a day after the bank announced the departure of its CEO, with the rating agency citing profitability and the fate of new product offerings among challenges facing the bank.