Investors looking for a safe bet will be drawn to Bouwfonds Nederlandse Gemeenten (Bouwfonds) which signed a euro5 billion ($5.16 billion) secured debt issuance programme on Wednesday. The security aspect is something which is also fairly unusual. Set up in 1946 and 90% owned by the municipalities in the Netherlands, Bouwfonds promotes home ownership, particularly with low income individuals. The security is provided through a Trust Agreement backed by mortgages. ABN Amro and BNG have both been mandated to arrange the programme while being joined in the dealer group by Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, Haighton & Ruth, ING Barings/BBL, JP Morgan, Nomura, Rabobank, SG and Warburg Dillon Read. Notes issued off the programme will be Aa3-rated by Moody's and will be listed in Luxembourg and Amsterdam.
December 08, 2000