Svenska Handelsbanken

HSBC France and Svenska Handelsbanken avoided issuing senior bonds at negative yields in a busy new issue market on Tuesday, but bankers said it was only a 'matter of time' before someone takes the plunge below 0% with an unsecured deal.

Volumes are growing across the spectrum in the Scandinavian MTN markets, as issuers and bankers return from their summer holidays. Meanwhile, bankers are expecting Scandinavian investors to move further out along the credit curve in response to negative yields as dovish Nordic central bank tones could lead to a bullish Scandinavian market.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) has had to row back on fines for four Nordic banks for issuing credit ratings, after an appeal board found that the banks had not broken the rules negligently.

Handelsbanken has appointed Juha Mustonen as its new head of debt capital markets for Finland. He will work with Finnish loan and bond clients.

A trio of SSAs made the most of low yields in Danish kroner and Swedish kronor to print paper with coupons hovering around zero this week.

Sweden’s Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) has signed credit lines totalling Skr6bn ($638m), though the bulk of facility for the timber, pulp and paper company will remain undrawn.

An infrequent Swedish corporate issuer, a Nordic bank, and a German car manufacturer all placed floaters larger than Skr1bn ($106m) in the last week. Swedish krona bonds have been popular with both public and private issuers in recent weeks, as both issuers and investors rush to get business done before the traditional midsummer market closure.

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.

The Swedish city of Gothenburg returned to the bond market for its second public deal of the year this week. Swedish krona bonds have proven popular in recent weeks, as both domestic and European issuers have placed deals in the currency.

Barclays plans to follow Crédit Agricole and Handelsbanken into the Kangaroo bond market. The UK lender mandated leads for a deal on Wednesday after the other two banks brought deals on Tuesday.

Dometic Group, the Swedish company that makes appliances for mobile homes, started the week by launching a €250m seven year high yield bond that was tightly priced, perhaps partly because the credit market was otherwise fairly quiet.

Svenska Handelsbanken was well received for a new senior unsecured transaction in the sterling market on Thursday, despite having pushed the spread towards a level that some investors might be able to pick up from a covered bond.