The Netherlands

NIBC, Raiffeisenlandesbank NiederÖsterreich-Wien (RLB NW) and BayernLB were easily able to sell 10 year covered bonds issued this week, thanks to their small size and European Central Bank demand.

NIBC and Raiffeisenlandesbank NiederÖsterreich-Wien (RLB NW) found solid demand for their pair of €500m 10 year covered bonds issued on Tuesday. But with the tighter Austrian deal extracting more demand at a tighter spread, investors clearly showed a preference for the hard bullet maturity.

BayernLB has issued the first of three 10 year covered bonds to be priced this week. With the European Central Bank stepping up its presence in the primary market compared to January 2017, forthcoming deals from NIBC and Raiffeisenlandesbank NiederÖsterreich-Wien (RLB NW) are assured of a smooth execution.

Issuers printed a slew of benchmarks in dollars, euros and sterling last week as the SSA market roared into action. Read on to see whether the first deals of the year won favour with our voters.

SSAs enjoyed a fine week in the sterling market, raising a total of nearly £2bn as bankers pointed to several factors that could be driving demand.

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Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten fell victim to a volatile Bund curve and crowded pipeline, falling short of its hopes with its first deal of the year.

Compagnie de Finacement Foncier (CFF) was unable to attract a swell of demand for its 10 year, possibly due to the tight starting spread. In contrast, yield hungry investors flocked to ABN Amro’s mega-sized 15 year offering.

Europe's largest property company Unibail-Rodamco announced an agreed offer of $15.7bn for the equity of Westfield Corp, the Australian shopping centre operator, on Tuesday. The deal, which valued the enterprise at $24.7bn, was the second retail property consolidation in a week as the sector comes under the M&A spotlight, writes Nigel Owen.

Global Telecom, a telecommunications company founded in Egypt and headquartered in the Netherlands, has extended a $200m loan by six months.

A number of bond traders will do well to remember the last time the Eurodollar market was deemed to be hot. But with four deals in in as many weeks, traders under 30 are having to learn about this market again. This week it was the turn of Toyota to rejoin a market it once frequently used.

Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten on Tuesday printed “another great example” of what bankers said were the “tangible price benefits” of selling SRI bonds. The trade came in the same week that France tapped its famous green OAT — or GrOAT — via auction.