Finland

After three eurozone sovereigns hit the primary market on Tuesday, more supply will follow on Wednesday with Germany setting its sights on its second syndicated transaction after returning to the format in May, helping it deal with a much bigger funding programme in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nordea Bank took advantage of very attractive conditions in the dollar market this week to price a new senior deal at a spread that was well below the fair value implied by secondary trading levels.

Nordea has made extensive use of Nordic currency covered bond markets through the coronavirus crisis and, as spreads have stabilised, has selectively issued senior preferred deals across a broad range of other FX. The bank says it has plenty of time to meet its regulatory funding needs and has no imminent plans to issue subordinated debt given the recent relaxation of capital requirements.

OP Corporate Bank and Standard Chartered were looking to add to a flurry of recent tier two issuance on Tuesday. The asset class has found itself in a sweet spot in terms of its regulatory and financial value during the coronavirus pandemic.

The recent maturity of a large Nokkie line released NOK9bn ($904.5m) into the market last week, with some foreign investors eager to reinvest in attractive short end paper.

Rating: Aa1/AA+/AA+

Public sector borrowers piled into dollars across the curve this week, with every issuer finding plenty of demand. But it was trades from Finland and Cades which stood out with aggressive price tightening and chunky order books as they made their long-awaited returns to the currency.

This week's scorecard looks at the progress Nordic agencies have made in their 2020 funding programmes in early May.

Issuance in the financial institutions bond market had a preferred senior flavour this week, with issuers finding this the most cost-effective funding compared with other asset classes. In addition, some of them can use it to fulfil regulatory requirements.

Nordea Bank and Erste Group Bank were marketing preferred senior bonds on Wednesday, finding demand in the seven year part of the curve following a flurry of five year deals earlier this week.

Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, Finland has found a novel way to meet its increased funding needs: private placements. Over the last six weeks, the sovereign has supplemented its regular auctions with €5.65bn of privately placed trades, issuing private debt off its benchmark bond programme for the first time ever.

Finnish national airline Finnair has launched a rights issue in response to the coronavirus pandemic — the first in an expected wave of large European rescue recapitalisations.