The new Norwegian government followed up on a pre-election pledge to ease mortgage standards by asking the country’s FSA to examine lending practices on Tuesday of last week (29 October), and Moody’s said on Monday that any loosening would be credit negative for Norwegian banks and covered bonds.
Danish lenders are responding to regulatory and rating agency pressures to reduce the share of adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) with the launch of Cita-based loans and a revival of fixed rate callables, with Moody’s highlighting Nordea Kredit’s success in the latter as credit positive.
New measures announced by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance for how banks calculate capital requirements for mortgage loans under the IRB approach are credit positive because they ensure retention of capital, Moody’s said on Monday.
Sweden’s Skandiabanken plans to issue its first covered bond at the end of the month after having turned to the asset class as part of its plans to use the capital markets to diversify its funding sources and support the banks’ growth ambitions, an official told The Covered Bond Report.
Moody’s downgraded Länsförsäkringar Bank’s debt and deposit ratings from A2 to A3, on stable outlook, yesterday (Wednesday), citing relatively light capitalisation at the bank level, high growth rates in recent years, and market funding reliance.
Moody’s has upgraded Swedbank because it considers that the bank’s credit profile has strengthened, and Fitch revised the outlook on Danske Bank from negative to stable due to lower risk from its Ireland exposure.
A proposal by the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanstilsynet) to tighten risk weights for residential mortgages is credit positive as it would press Norwegian banks to further strengthen their capital bases, Moody’s said on Monday.
A proposal by Denmark’s mortgage banks to relax amortisation requirements for borrowers on interest-only loans is credit negative for Danish banks, Moody’s said on Friday, because it highlights pressure on asset quality in the context of high levels of indebtedness and weak housing markets.
Changes to Swedish regulations to improve monitoring and contain risks such as falling property values support Swedish covered bonds as a “safe and effective” funding instrument, Moody’s said on Tuesday.
Moody’s downgraded the ratings of SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge and Sparebanken Hedmark from A1 to A2 on Monday, but confirmed the A2 ratings of SpareBank 1 SMN and SpareBank 1 SR-Bank, citing a weakening of the SpareBank 1 Alliance.