Estonia

Luminor Bank attracted strong demand for its debut covered bond on Wednesday, the first under Estonia’s legal framework and the first from the Baltic region. Despite a negative reoffer yield, it attracted a higher subscription ratio than any other five year euro benchmark issued this year.

Luminor Bank is expected to issue its debut covered bond after successfully concluding a roadshow this week. The deal will be the first Baltic covered bond under the Estonian legal framework.

Luminor Bank has mandated leads for the first covered bond from the Baltic region.

An Estonian covered bond could soon be due in the market after Moody’s rated Luminor Bank’s programme this week — the first to be structured under the country’s newly established law. The rating comes after the European Central Bank granted Luminor a license to issue covered bonds in December.

Luminor Bank is likely to issue the debut Estonian covered bond in the first quarter of 2020 according to the bank’s head of treasury, Max Ehrengren. Although the programme will have capacity to issue deals secured on Lithuanian and Latvian assets, the inaugural transaction will be exclusively secured on Estonian assets.

Oberbank sold a senior bond in euros on Wednesday, following in the footsteps of NatWest Markets, Luminor Bank and Svenska Handelsbanken, which on Tuesday also issued senior deals. NatWest attracted the largest order book for its floating rate notes.

Issuers will be hoping for better conditions than what has been seen this week, as four of them head out on roadshows on Monday.

Münchener Hypothekenbank is looking to execute a trade for a seven year senior non-preferred bond, in a week pockmarked by national holidays across Europe. Meanwhile, Estonian bank Luminor will start investor meetings next week for senior preferred notes.

Moody's has given Estonia’s newly established covered bond framework a mixed report, an assessment that will be a helpful guide for the other countries in the Baltic region, which plan to use special purpose vehicles to get around some of the problems their neighbour faces.

The Estonian parliament’s recent approval of covered bond legislation paves the way for the first Baltic deal, which could come from Luminor Bank, but whether it is initially secured on a pool of pan-Baltic mortgages remains to be seen.

Covered bonds offer a way for Baltic banks to develop a new seam of long-term standalone wholesale funding. But a successful conclusion to this project will depend on whether investors are convinced there is an effective mechanism for cross-border recognition of assets.

Parliamentary approval of Estonian covered bond legislation opens the way for Luminor Bank to make the first steps towards establishing a pan-Baltic covered bond market, according to the bank’s head of treasury, Max Ehrengren.