Crédit Agricole

Italy made its long-awaited green bond debut this week, and set new records for the biggest and longest sovereign green bond.

Bank of Ireland’s inaugural green bond attracted the largest financial senior book in euros this week, peaking at €2.5bn, as it offered investors a chance to pick up labelled paper at a shorter tenor and with plenty of spread.

Rating: A2/—

Hamburg Commercial Bank is aiming to establish a regular market presence as part of its post-privatisation transformation plan by following a senior deal on Tuesday with a return to a non-preferred format later this year.

Commerzbank and Crédit Mutuel Arkéa shared the spoils in the senior market on Thursday, with the pair tapping opposing ends of the curve and vastly different pools of investors.

Italy took orders of over €80bn for its first green BTP on Wednesday to become the latest sovereign to enter the green bond market. Germany was also in market, raising €3bn with its first 15 year deal via auction.

Münchener Hypothekenbank (MunHyp) and the Bank of Ireland sold their first euro green bonds on Wednesday, offering up 2bp-3bp of new issue premium to do so.

Italy picked the banks to lead its debut green bond on Tuesday after unveiling its sovereign green framework to investors last week.

KfW rebooted the short end of the euro public sector bond market on Tuesday with a well subscribed trade which offered a modest new issue premium. The deal shared the euro SSA market with the State of Baden-Württemberg’s debut green bond.

Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCB) returned to the senior preferred market for the first time in 21 months this week, extending its maturity curve as it works on finishing a multi-year transformation plan following its privatisation.

Four public sector borrowers announced new deals in the primary market on Monday ahead of the European Union’s much anticipated second transaction from its Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency programme this year, which is expected to arrive later in the week.

Crédit Agricole CIB has long been one of the leading pioneers of sustainable finance. It was the only European bank involved in the creation of the Green Bond Principles in 2014 and has since led more green, social and sustainable bonds than any other investment bank.