Fitch affirmed the ratings of Norway’s Sparebanken on Tuesday, saying that their current ratings of A or A- reflect the sound asset quality and good capital and leverage ratios of the banks.

Norway’s Fana Sparebank obtained its first issuer rating on Wednesday, Baa2 from Moody’s, as its seeks to obtain a rating of covered bonds issued by its Boligkreditt subsidiary in a bid to improve domestic capital market access and funding costs, according to the bank’s CFO.

Moody’s changed its outlook on Norway’s banking system from negative to stable yesterday (Wednesday) as a result of improved and above euro-area growth forecasts, but also noted that Norwegian banks’ high reliance on wholesale funding could expose them to market volatility.

SpareBank 1 SMN today (Thursday) emerged with a senior unsecured transaction that it had been targeting since at least October, when it went on the first of two roadshows, while Stadshypotek priced the first Nordic sterling covered bond on Monday.