Swedbank

Swedbank printed the tightest fixed rate senior bond in several months this week, but FIG bankers are split on whether banks can be drawn away from covered bond funding next year as bail-in uncertainty continues to dog the asset class.

Swedbank

Swedbank bucked a trend of issuers turning to covered bonds for funding on Thursday when it launched a five year fixed rate senior deal.

Alandsbanken, the Finnish banking group, has issued its first Swedish krona bond for over a year, drawing huge demand from domestic Swedish investors.

Groupe BPCE launched its first tier two deal of the year on Friday, taking advantage of a buoyant market requiring slimmer new issue premiums.

Banks leapt on demand for Hong Kong dollar medium term notes this week, as better than expected US non-farm payrolls drove rates up in the dollar-pegged currency.

Shipping company Odfjell SE has agreed a $112m term loan facility to refinance existing loans on three of its vessels.

Swedbank and SR Boligkreditt defied tricky market conditions this week to respectively raise €1.25bn and €500m in five year covered bonds.

European Investment Bank has become the latest public sector issuer to tap demand in Norwegian kroner, after KfW made a return to the market this week with its first new line in the currency since January 2013.

Pohjola Bank’s next capital markets issue will likely be a covered bond, meaning investors waiting for a euro tier two deal scheduled for June may have even longer to wait.

Pohjola Bank changed direction to issue tier two debt in Swedish kronor on Tuesday, after being kept out of the euro market in the second quarter.

Swedbank’s sharp five year floater was the only FIG supply in euros this week, but bankers believe the market will only suffer a short summer drought before supply ramps up this month.