Senior Debt

KEB mulls dollar bond, plots roadshow Korea Exchange Bank will be on the road next week for a series of meetings with investors in Asia, UK and US to gauge their appetite for a potential international bond offering.

Risk-off movements concentrated in front end, say bankers European banks’ curves are steepening up to three years and flattening beyond that point, suggesting investors are concerned about the short term stability of the continent’s banking sector but more confident about the long term, bankers told EuroWeek on Tuesday.

Standard Chartered reaches Rmb1bn ECP summit with third clip Standard Chartered is claiming an industry first after topping Rmb1bn ($158.2m) in outstanding euro commercial paper volume and is positioning itself as the largest issuer of renminbi ECP from London.

Senior looks to covered bonds, corporate sector for lead Spreads began to inch tighter in senior unsecured on Monday, leading syndicators to look to the covered bond market and the corporate sector to lead the way and help break the funding deadlock of the past 11 days. While there was no activity in senior, Clydesdale mandated for a covered bond roadshow, raising hopes that senior could benefit from a better tone in that market.

Vietinbank brings Vietnam lenders to dollars Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) finally pushed through with its $250m debut in the international bond market late last week.

Tesco Bank hits record with £200m retail deal Tesco Personal Finance this week sold a £200m 5% 8-1/2 year retail deal, breaking the record for the largest fixed rate deal to list on the London Stock Exchange’s retail trading platform.

Spanish FIG bonds hit after Moody’s downgrades Spanish bank debt underperformed on Friday after Moody’s cut the long term ratings of 16 of the country’s lenders, as well as Santander UK.

HSBC’s Flint warns against one-size-fits-all approach to bail-ins At an HSBC conference on financial institutions, group chairman Douglas Flint said his bank firmly supported bail-in as a concept but that much more worked need to be done to iron out potential problems with the framework.

Worries rise on Greece, Spain as syndicates prepare for shutdown With most of Europe on holiday, syndicate bankers in London painted a grim picture of the prospects for new senior bank issuance on Thursday, as worries continued about banks in Greece and Spain.

Senior market looks forward to supply after covered bond reopening FIG syndicators on Wednesday were looking forward to seeing more supply in senior unsecured after OP Mortgage Bank came to the covered bond market with a well-received €1.25bn deal — although they admitted new issues in senior would probably not come this week.

Italian bank CDS tighter despite Moody’s action Italian banks’ CDS levels tightened in with the rest of the market on Tuesday, despite Moody’s downgrading the long and short term ratings of 26 Italian banks by up to four notches.

Tesco Bank flexes retail muscles with jumbo-sized bond Tesco Bank has closed books on its third retail bond, a £200m eight year deal with a 5% coupon. Books were supposed to close on Wednesday but bookrunners Barclays and Investec were forced to shut them early because of the strength of demand.

Issuance down $100bn on last year as bankers fear early close of market Senior unsecured bankers on Monday expressed concern that their market might not see supply until after the summer holidays.

VietinBank raises $250m from debut deal after delay Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) finally pushed through with its $250m debut in the international bond market late last week.

Covered bond market shaken by 3CIF’s mystery suspension This week’s shocking suspension of Caisse Centrale du Crédit Immobilier de France’s covered bonds from Euronext and the Luxembourg stock exchange has left capital market participants bewildered and angry.

3CIF: uncomfortable senior levels may offer a clue 3CIF’s last senior trade, priced on February 1, was welcomed with praise from the market at the time. But on Thursday a syndicator involved in the deal told EuroWeek that the borrower had indicated at the time of issuance it was under pressure from rising costs in the asset class.

DVB defies volatility to price first senior benchmark With FIG markets fraught with execution risk given the suspension by French regulators of trading in 3CIF’s covered and senior bonds and a police search of the headquarters of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, this week was an unlikely candidate to see the first senior deal of the month.

UBS prices €750m FRN, taps demand for core names UBS braved volatile credit markets on Thursday with a €750m two year floating rate benchmark that was priced at 60bp over three month Euribor. Bankers said the deal benefited from a flight to high quality core names and a lack of primary supply — although some said that market conditions affected the size.

DBS China sells debut panda bond, leaves room for more DBS Bank’s Chinese branch made its debut in the country’s domestic bond market at the start of the week, raising Rmb500m ($79.3m) — and opening the door for more issues that will bring the bank’s fundraising in the panda market to a total of Rmb2bn.

BEA returns to dim sum, adds offshore to mainland borrowing Bank of East Asia’s China branch raised Rmb1bn ($159m) from its second visit to the dim sum bond market late last week, offering a juicy yield pick-up against outstanding notes from other lenders.

RHB pays debt premium as Europe elections spark fear Malaysian lender RHB Bank paid a premium over rival banks for its return to the international bond market this week, as investors sought higher yields amid rising concerns about European debt following elections in France and Greece.