Sweden’s Skandiabanken is seeking bondholder approval to transfer two outstanding Norwegian krone senior unsecured FRNs to a new subsidiary in Norway it is establishing ahead of a fourth quarter IPO of its banking operations in that country.
Danske Bank launched a Eu1bn (Dkr7.5bn) five year covered bond on Tuesday amid a wave of supply that the market proved more than able to absorb, and further benchmarks are due early next week.
The expected implementation in Norway of a resolution regime equivalent to the EU Bank Recovery & Resolution Directive (BRRD) will result in Norwegian covered bonds having less exposure to bank defaults and losses, Moody’s said last Friday (14 August), highlighting the rating benefits this has led to.
Norwegian residential mortgage lending regulations will be tightened and the countercyclical buffer (CCB) for banks increased to 1.5%, the Ministry of Finance announced this week, while Norges Bank cut its key policy rate by 0.25% today (Thursday).
Kommunal Landspensjonskasse (KLP) sold a Eu600m 30 year non-call 10 Tier 2 transaction on Tuesday that, according to an official at the issuer, is its first bond issue in nine years and the largest ever from a Norwegian life insurance company in the international markets.
SR-Boligkreditt issued its first covered bond yesterday (Thursday), a Nkr2bn (Eu229m) five year deal that an official at the issuer said represented a decent start to its issuance, even if the pricing was marginally wider than expected amid a volatile market.
DNB Boligkreditt attracted strong US interest with a $1.25bn (Eu1.12bn, Nkr9.44bn) five year benchmark covered bond on Wednesday, and yesterday (Thursday) achieved tight pricing with a Skr4bn (Nkr3.61bn, Eu430m) subordinated issue that a banker said he believes to be the largest ever Tier 2 in the krona 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.
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.
Santander Consumer Bank Nordic on Wednesday attracted Eu2bn of demand for a Eu750m (Nkr6.50bn) three year senior unsecured benchmark, allowing the issuer to price at the tight end of guidance while enlarging the deal to its maximum targeted size, according to an official at the issuer.