Sweden

Euros offering a cheaper alternative for Nordic borrowers

Swedish health and wellbeing brand Midsona has sold new shares worth Skr500m (€50m) in a block trade

Swedish firms flock to MTN market in search of covered and senior funding

The Swedish krona covered bond curve has steepened over the course of the year alongside a rise in net issuance, with last month's volumes almost twice those of last July.

Banks are seeing light at the end of the tunnel as they emerge from major cost cutting exercises at the same time as economies around the world begin to emerge, erratically, from pandemic restrictions. Now the question is whether there will be enough capital markets business to go around.

Private placements are expected to make up the bulk of Swedish covered bond paper throughout the latter half of 2021 and, with the Nordic summer holiday period coming to end, issuance from the region is expected to kick off ahead of the eurozone.

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

Wells Fargo hires Marriott from NatWest Markets — Créd Ag MD to join BNP Paribas SSA desk — SEB SSA DCM head off to New York — AFT hires funding official from Crédit Foncier — Citi promotes CEEMEA debt bankers — HSBC AM adds EM debt portfolio manager — EM seller heads from Credit Suisse to Barclays — Deutsche Bank hires head of US CLO syndication from JPM — Senior securitized product banker leaves Barclays — USSIM poaches BlackRock head of European ABS — Together treasurer departs for Pepper — Barclays poaches from JP Morgan for real estate IB push — Barclays hires from MS for head of Nordic banking

Morgan Stanley managing director Tobias Åkermark is leaving the US firm to become head of Nordic banking and country CEO for Sweden at Barclays.

Sweden became the latest European sovereign to access the ultra-long end of the curve this week as it launched its first 50 year bond, opening up the long end of the krona curve for other highly rated names.

Covered bonds issued this week by SCBC and Bank of New Zealand were thinly oversubscribed and illustrated that investors are still sensitive to price, albeit that demand was good for a small green debut from Eika Boligkreditt and a tap from Oma Savings Bank.

Bank of Montreal is seeking investor consent to switch from referencing Libor to Sonia on its sterling covered bond, following similar moves from other borrowers. Different calculation methods are emerging for the transition.