EIB

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

The European Investment Bank won a huge reception from investors for its debut €STR-linked floating rate note (FRN) this week, ignoring concerns about a lack of demand amid negative rates in the euro market. While there is a lack of clarity about calculating €STR bonds’ fair value and on Euribor’s future, public sector borrowers are expected to embrace the risk-free euro rate.

Investors warmly welcomed the first benchmark €STR-linked floating rate note on Wednesday, brushing aside previous concerns about a lack of demand for euro FRNs as a result of deeply negative rates in the currency.

The European Investment Bank hit screens with a $1bn no-grow global 10 year Climate Awareness Bond on Tuesday. The issuer has not printed a 10 year dollar benchmark since May 2017.

After mandating banks last week to explore a three year benchmark €STR-linked floating rate note, the European Investment Bank is moving forward with the deal, with initial price thoughts released ahead of an expected launch on Wednesday — the day the rate starts being published by the European Central Bank. However, some market participants have questioned the extent of investor demand for euro FRNs with negative rates commonplace in the currency.

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

Investors stormed into the euro public sector bond market this week fired up from the announcement of a new comprehensive stimulus package by the European Central Bank last week.

While it is no surprise that a public sector borrower has brought the first floating rate note linked to the euro short term rate (€STR), it was a surprise that a small German agency would bring the inaugural transaction, especially as it is some weeks before the European Central Bank (ECB) is due to begin publishing the recommended new risk-free rate.

L-Bank issued the first ever floating rate note linked to €STR on Thursday, ahead of the European Central Bank’s publication of the recommended new euro risk-free rate on October 2. While it has been beaten in the race to do the first deal, the European Investment Bank has announced plans for what could be the first benchmark sized transaction in the format.

The European Investment Bank and Nordic Investment Bank kept the strong momentum going in the SSA euro bond market on Wednesday, capitalising on the European Central Bank’s announcement of fresh stimulus last week and a lack of issuance over the summer. However, Joint Laender's deal was only just oversubscribed, which the leads attributed to investors’ hesitance to buy a negative yielding 10 year bond from a less liquid name.

Fresh from the announcement of a new stimulus package by the European Central Bank last week, investors stormed into the euro public sector bond market on Tuesday, led by KfW and Bpifrance. The latter printed €1.25bn, equaling its biggest ever single issue. The strong momentum is set to continue with a string of mandates, including two supranationals for Wednesday.

A trio of supranationals harnessed a lack of sterling supply to reopen the market this week. The World Bank brought the first fixed rate supranational deal since August, while the Asian Development Bank and European Investment Bank both reopened Sonia-linked notes.