Covered bond

The bond segment is entering a stage of unprecedented diversification for the local capital market as investors who have had access to corporate, municipal and government bonds so far can trade the first mortgage bonds, Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) CEO Adrian Tanase told a conference on Wednesday.

Alpha Bank's subsidiary in Romania announced on Tuesday that it has successfully completed its inaugural 200-million-euro covered bond issue, as part of its recently established 1-billion-euro direct issuance Global Covered Bond Program.
[Reuters]

Fitch Ratings has affirmed National Bank of Greece's Covered Bond Program I (NBG I) at B with a positive outlook.

The rating action follows the segregation of 1.2 billion euros of assets for the benefit of the program, performed on November 30.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on Thursday it had invested in the first publicly sold covered bond issued by a Greek bank since the government in Athens returned to international bond markets this year.

The development bank said it bought 30 million euros of the 750-million-euro offering by the National Bank of Greece.

The European Central Bank could buy covered bonds issued by National Bank of Greece under its asset purchase scheme, providing indirect support for the Greek economy, according to financial sources familiar with the matter.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will invest 350 million euros in a covered bond that Piraeus Bank will issue next month as part of efforts to increase lending to small businesses in Greece, its president Werner Hoyer said in Athens on Friday.

National Bank of Greece (NBG) is close to mandating a 300-million-to-500-million-euro three-year covered bond, according to sources familiar with the matter, which would be the first Greek bank bond sold since 2014.

Greek banks are preparing their own bond issues following the country's successful return to the markets after three years.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has said it invested the Turkish Lira equivalent of 75 million euros in a covered bond issued by Turkish lender Garanti Bank, in a bid to encourage a new source of funding for Turkish banks. 

The IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has said it is investing $150 million equivalent of Turkish Liras in covered bonds issued by Turkey's Garanti Bank, in a bid to help boost the development of green buildings in the country's housing sector.