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.

Amortisation of new mortgage loans down to 50% of a property’s value in line with a Swedish Bankers’ Association recommendation on Tuesday of last week (7 October) would be beneficial, according to Moody’s, while an analyst suggested it could head off further binding measures from Sweden’s authorities.

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.

SCBC sold its first euro benchmark in three and a half years on Tuesday, a Eu1bn (Skr9.1bn) seven year that is understood to be the first soft bullet covered bond out of Sweden, and an official at the issuer said it will now be returning to the euro-denominated market on a yearly basis.

Nordea achieved the lowest coupon on an Additional Tier 1 (AT1) with the first such issue from Sweden on Tuesday, a $1.5bn (Eu1.16bn, Skr10.7bn) transaction split into two tranches that included a $1bn perpetual non-call five tranche paying 5.5%.

Nordea is set to launch the first Additional Tier 1 (AT1) instrument from Sweden next week, having embarked upon investor meetings for what will be a high, 8% trigger temporary write-down structure.

Second quarter results for Danske, reported today (Thursday), reveal “good progress all over”, with a raised outlook for 2014 reflecting higher management confidence, while Swedbank results underline a Swedish trend, said a Kepler Cheuvreux analyst.

SEB priced a Eu1bn 12 year non-call seven Tier 2 issue last Thursday (22 May), which an official at the issuer noted is the first Swedish deal this year to feature a 12NC7 structure and was launched into a market that had lost some momentum.

Nordea priced a ¥100bn (Eu720m, Skr6.47bn) three tranche Samurai today (Thursday), with a lead banker noting that the deal beat a Rabobank Samurai from last week on pricing and size.

Swedbank restarted euro benchmark covered bond supply after two weeks without issuance on Wednesday, pricing its first such deal of the year in a busy week for the FIG market across asset classes, with other Nordic issuers variously tapping senior unsecured, subordinated debt, and floating rate covered bond markets.