Belgium

European member states and the EU Parliament will soon begin difficult talks to decide the length of an additional clearing exemption for pension funds.

NN Bank paid a generous premium this week to issue the first Dutch conditional pass through (CPT) covered bond of 2018. The deal emerged at the same time as Belfius Bank returned to the covered bond market with a 10 year.

Larry Thompson, vice-chairman of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp, on Tuesday suggested that populist rhetoric in the US might be overshadowing President Trump's strong choices of leaders in independent financial oversight agencies.

Banks have called for more regulation to create a global protocol to address cyber security attacks.

The impasse between European and US regulators on the mutual recognition of each other’s clearing supervision regimes shows no sign of a breakthrough, as representatives from both authorities clashed at the Institute of International Finance spring membership meeting in Brussels this week.

Covered bond deals issued in the five to seven year part of the curve on Wednesday by ING Belgium, Berlin Hyp (BHH) and The Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec (FCDQ) were all well received and stood in stark contrast to a 10 year from Nationwide.

ING Belgium has mandated leads for its first covered bond deal since September 2015 and, after being 150 years in operation, Berlin Hyp has announced plans for a ‘jubilee’ transaction in the form of a mortgage backed five year.

The Covered Bond Investor Council (CBIC) has responded to the European Commission’s (EC) proposed covered bond directive, requesting a more precise definition of eligible assets among a number of other recommendations.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has proposed new powers that could allow it to control elements of foreign clearing houses’ operations (CCPs) in “exceptional” crisis situations, according to a leaked position paper. This is likely to escalate already tense relations with US regulators.

KBC Group has moved a year in advance to take a chunk out of its refinancing requirements in the additional tier one market, pricing €1bn of new paper in line with where its closest peers were trading on Tuesday.

The Belgian government has laid out its proposal for a deal with previous owners of Arco Group, the former shareholder in Dexia Bank, which would allow Belfius Bank to proceed with its IPO.

The IPO of Belgian bank Belfius has been delayed, likely until the autumn, as the company is still waiting for the go-ahead from the Belgian government to prepare the sale prospectus.