Deals

Berlin Hyp took what could be a last chance to secure prevailing attractive funding levels with a EUR500m 10 year green senior unsecured bond on Tuesday, but an allocation of just 20% to SRI accounts disappointed, as the deal’s maturity and spread wasn’t for all in a difficult market.

Caffil looks set to become the first French issuer of a green or social covered bond, as it plans to this year issue a social bond backed by the public sector assets it refinances with an initial focus on healthcare, and to later enter the green bond market, officials at the issuer told Sustainabonds.

National Australia Bank (NAB) took an innovative approach to green securitisation when it sold a A$300m green tranche as part of a A$2bn residential mortgage backed security (RMBS) on 8 February, with low carbon buildings part of a wider pool of mortgages.

SpareBank 1 Bolgikreditt launched the largest single-tranche green bank bond outside China and the first green benchmark covered bond with residential mortgages on Tuesday, a EUR1bn deal made possible by taking building codes and years as a proxy for energy efficiency – a strategy that could be used by others.

SpareBank 1 Boligkreditt is preparing to issue an inaugural, euro benchmark green covered bond – the first from outside Germany – targeting the growing SRI investor base and aiming to highlight and enhance its member banks’ commitment to sustainability, SpaBol’s Eivind Hegelstad told Sustainabonds.

A first offshore public benchmark Climate Bond for Westpac on 16 November allowed the issuer to access the more mature European SRI investor base, according to a funding official at the Australian bank, after it emphasised its sustainability track record on a roadshow for the EUR500m seven year green bond.

LBBW sold the largest green bond from a European bank on Tuesday, a Eu750m four year senior unsecured debut at the tightest spread of any German senior benchmark, inaugurating a framework from which it can also issue covered bonds and that incorporates a new asset eligibility methodology.

A debut EUR500m green Pfandbrief for Deutsche Hypo went “perfectly” yesterday (Thursday), according to head of funding and investor relations Jürgen Klebe, who said the deal reflected green moves in the bank and helps prepare for a post-CBPP3 market, with annual issuance planned.