Standard & Poor’s said on Tuesday that although there are concerns about the health of the Swedish housing market, its ratings of covered bonds in Sweden already reflect such risks, with the rating agency citing state support and resilience of its ratings to a sharp fall in house prices.
Standard & Poor’s upgraded Swedbank to AA- on Wednesday and revised its outlook on Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) from negative to stable, citing a belief that the Swedish government will still support systemically important banks’ senior creditors in spite of BRRD, but the rating agency also warned of heightened economic risks for Swedish banks.
Standard & Poor’s on Tuesday placed Nykredit and DLR Kredit on CreditWatch Negative but affirmed its ratings of fellow Danish banks Jyske, Danske and Nordea Bank Danmark, after completing a review relating to the potential withdrawal of government support for the banking sector under the Bank Recovery & Resolution Directive.
Increasing economic risks may lead to bank downgrades in Norway and Finland, Standard & Poor’s has warned, while the introduction of bail-in regulation is putting pressure on banks across the Nordics. However, it sees positive signs for Icelandic banks.
Swedish house prices could fall in 2015 against a backdrop of stricter amortisation requirements and Europe’s deteriorating economic outlook, but Swedish covered bond ratings would likely prove resilient even if prices fell by 30%, Standard & Poor’s said yesterday (Wednesday).
Moody’s expects Swedish banks to make early, sizeable issuances of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) instruments, while Standard & Poor’s expects a similar trend across Nordic banks, which it said are pulling away from their European peers in terms of capital strength.
Standard & Poor’s said on Tuesday that a Swedish Bankers’ Association proposal to suggest a reduction in the required level of amortisation to a 50% LTV ratio could help reduce asset-liability mismatch (ALMM) risk in covered bond programmes, but highlighted that issuers have already reduced this since 2008 by extending the duration of their funding.
An Icelandic government-appointed committee has called for the establishment of specialised mortgage companies to finance mortgage lending via covered bonds, among other changes aimed at reforming the country’s housing system, according to Standard & Poor’s.
Standard & Poor’s upgraded Realkredit Danmark senior secured issuance yesterday (Wednesday) following its lifting of parent bank Danske’s rating from A- to A Tuesday of last week, which came as part of wide-ranging BRRD-inspired bank rating actions.
S&P upgraded Danske and took rating actions on Swedish banks on Tuesday in connection with a raft of actions on European banks to reflect less assumed government support given new resolution frameworks, and also flagged plans to incorporate this into covered bond ratings.