Bank Capital

Beazley uses excess liquidity to buy back LT2 Specialist insurer Beazley has bought back £30m of a £150m deal in a liability management exercise that was designed to take advantage of excess liquidity.

OP’s stellar jumbo proves covered market strength in appalling week for bonds Finland’s OP Mortgage Bank shrugged off an appalling market backdrop and ended a two week covered bond drought with a stellar benchmark trade on Wednesday.

Europe CRD agreement brings Basel III closer Europe took big strides towards implementing Basel III rules this week, with a grouping of European finance ministers (Ecofin) agreeing to drafts of the new capital requirements directive and regulation.

Bankia hits back as pressure mounts on Spain’s banks Market pressure was heaped on Spanish savings group Bankia this week, with the lender forced to reassure depositors on Thursday that their cash was safe as the bank’s share price tumbled.

Volatility dampens covered hopes despite yield hunger Real money accounts are desperate for financial institution paper — but only from the right names. As volatility continues to rock the markets, European covered bond and senior unsecured bankers tried to deduce issuance prospects in the light of OP Mortgage Bank’s successful trade on Wednesday (see separate story). While some are hopeful, others remain extremely doubtful.

HSBC’s Flint warns on one-size-fits-all bail-ins Douglas Flint, chairman of HSBC, this week underlined his bank’s support of the regulatory concept of forcing losses on bondholders through bail-in. Speaking at a HSBC financial institutions conference, Flint also warned that much more work needed to be done to iron out potential problems with the framework.

Cyprus Popular looks at capital with LM, rights issue plans Cyprus Popular Bank — formerly known as Marfin — made strides this week towards filling a big capital hole ahead of the European Banking Authority’s deadline for a 9% core tier one ratio by the end of June, with a liability management exercise and plans for a rights issue.

Arkéa hits 54% participation rate France’s Crédit Mutuel Arkéa released take up results on its cash tender on a €250m CMS-linked tier one security this week. Investors tendered €135.4m — 54.2% of the deal outstanding — for cash at 60% of par.

Delta Lloyd eyes sub deal Delta Lloyd Life is meeting investors in the coming days with an eye to a debut subordinated transaction.

Cyprus Popular offers cash or senior in tier two swap Cyprus Popular Bank is offering holders of a €450m subordinated floater to switch the bonds in to senior paper or tender them for cash below par, in a bid to increase its capital ratios.

Capital ratios to suffer as Spain’s banks calculate provisions Spain’s national champions say new provisioning requirements will not materially hurt their capital ratios. But the rules will have a larger effect on the smaller institutions.

Delta Lloyd eyes sub deal Delta Lloyd Life has mandated Barclays, Morgan Stanley and Rabobank for a series of investors meetings, with an eye to a debut subordinated transaction.

What’s the cap gap? Demand for Spain clarity after Bankia turmoil Spain is at risk of an Irish-style bank meltdown, investors and bankers cautioned this week as the government was forced to take a 45% stake in its largest savings bank group.

CRH holds off as CIF stays silent but buyers’ hunger grows Core and non-Eurozone covered bond supply remains in high demand, with France’s Caisse de Refinancement de l’Habitat the most likely candidate to slake investors thirst for issuance.

Swiss Re, Macquarie meet investors, deals may follow Macquarie and Swiss Re are both set to finish European investor meetings on Friday. The Swiss insurer is eyeing its third capital trade of the year, but EuroWeek understands that there is no specific transaction under discussion for Macquarie, whose meetings were organised by HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Alpha buyback adds €333m to CT1 ahead of Basel III Even as its sovereign looked to be lurching ever closer to meltdown, Greek lender Alpha Bank added €333m, or 74bp, to its core tier one capital ratio by buying back capital securities below par, it said this week.