Norway

Nordic Semiconductor, the Norwegian maker of semiconductors, has completed an Nkr1.1bn ($125m) growth capital raising to fund M&A opportunities and an acceleration of its growth strategy.

DNB Boligkreditt did not waste any time waiting to tap its covered bond first issued last week, raising a further Skr500m on Thursday in order to capitalise on the attractiveness of the Swedish krona compared with other currencies.

A trio of European SSAs raised a combined $6bn with five year dollar benchmarks this week. Kommunalbanken, the European Stability Mechanism and Nordic Investment Bank all hit a “very deep pocket” of demand in the tenor.

The European Stability Mechanism hit dollar the market on Wednesday with a five year benchmark — its fourth ever in the currency. Two Nordic issuers are set to follow suit on Thursday.

International Finance Corp sold the first Kauri bond in more than two months on Thursday, while in the Kangaroo market a pair of European agencies tapped a pocket of demand further down the curve.

Danish banks say they could replace non-preferred senior debt with preferred senior bonds in the second half of 2020, after Denmark’s national supervisor relaxed minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL).

Kommunalbanken has raised its borrowing requirement for the year back to its initial target as a result of a strong performance in the Norwegian Krone over the summer.

Subordinated bond issuance could decline dramatically among Nordic banks following implementation the EU’s new bank recovery and resolution directive (BRRD 2), Fitch said this week.

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

Smaller loan loss provisions and high capital ratios have helped Nordic lenders to kick off European bank earnings season in a positive fashion. But analysts are cautious about drawing any conclusions for the rest of the sector.

Sparebanken Vest Boligkreditt did not need to offer any premium to investors to complete its debut sale of green covered bonds on Wednesday. The deal adds to a recent flurry of socially responsible investments, which are offering financial issuers very competitive terms.

Kommunalbanken snagged NZ$500m ($324.5m) on Friday with the second largest Kauri bond of the year. Interest in the New Zealand dollar is high, with NZ$1.1bn worth of SSA Kauri deals printed so far this month — and more are set to follow.