Greece

Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of business on Monday, February 1. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services.

A pair of sovereign borrowers hit the crowded euro bond market on Wednesday, pulling down a combined €7bn. Public sector issuance is showing no signs of slowing: Wednesday’s borrowers received huge orders.

The European Union wrapped up its first bond of 2021 under the Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) funding programme in style with a quick execution and another impressively sized order book.

The Finnish financial sector wants to put the brakes on new measures aimed at completing the Banking Union, arguing that EU member states should move back into a clearly defined process of risk reduction.

Piraeus Bank is expected to have to convert its state-held contingent convertible bonds (CoCos) into equity, which will put the firm under Greek government ownership. The move comes after the Single Supervisory Mechanism this week refused the issuer’s request to settle its bond coupons in cash.

Piraeus Bank expects to hear from the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) this month about whether it can pay the annual coupon on its contingent convertibles (CoCos) in cash. A failure to honour the payment will result in the Greek state-held bonds being converted into equity.

Greece hit the market this week with a €2bn tap, neatly threading a needle between the EU’s jumbo debut and a hefty 30 year from Italy. But unlike other sovereigns, the exercise was not a scramble for cash to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.

Two public sector borrowers will follow the EU’s record breaking success in the euro market on Wednesday, with Agence Française de Développement looking to sell its debut bond under its new framework tied to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Greece tapping its 2035s.

National Bank of Greece (NBG) has become the lowest rated bank to issue green debt, after winning two times as much demand as it needed for a €500m senior bond on Thursday. The trade formed part of a flurry of green issuance in the FIG market, alongside new deals from Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel and Mizuho Financial Group.

National Bank of Greece (NBG) is set to become the first Greek financial institution to issue a green bond, after announcing plans for a new green senior deal on Wednesday.

The Hellenic Republic returned to the market this week to tap a June 2030 line, raising €2.5bn with its third syndication of the year.

All eyes in the primary euro public sector bond market are fixed on the expected arrival of Germany's green Bund this week, but there were still some other deals announced on Tuesday. Greece is sticking to its plan for a syndicated bond issuance every quarter and Berlin hopes to match the success of its compatriot Land NRW in the 30 year part of the curve.