Primary market

• Abbey goes ahead this time as duo mandate

  Abbey National Treasury Services has built a thrice oversubscribed order book for a Eu1bn three year issue that will be priced today (Thursday), a day after Lloyds TSB made its Regulated Covered Bond debut. Meanwhile, two more new issues have been mandated.

New issue progress reports

• Q&A with CIBC on landmark US dollar issue

  Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce recently priced a $2bn (Eu1.42bn/C$2.12bn) three year covered bond issue that was the first benchmark targeted at US investors in two-and-a-half years. The Cover spoke to CIBC about the issue this week, with regulatory reporting restrictions on the deal having just ended.

• SpareBank 1 in speedy build after accelerated launch

  SpareBank 1 Boligkreditt launched a Eu1.25bn seven year covered bond a day earlier than planned yesterday (Wednesday) after being encouraged by feedback sparked by the deal’s announcement on Tuesday, the issuer told The Cover.

Mandates & deal pipeline

• BPVI hopes to launch OBG debut this year

  Banca Popolare di Vicenza could launch a debut covered bond later this year, a funding official told The Cover after the bank launched a Eu500m three year senior unsecured floating rate note yesterday (Tuesday).

Credit & ratings news

• S&P clears UniCredit Pfandbriefe at AAA

  Standard & Poor’s has affirmed UniCredit Bank’s public sector covered bonds at AAA and assigned the rating a stable outlook under its revised methodology.

Hiring, firing, and M&A

• Westermann to run new Dutch Linklaters practice

  Kees Westermann has left Clifford Chance for Linklaters, where he will head a new structured finance practice for the firm in Amsterdam that will take in covered bonds.

Regulatory & structuring developments

• Canadian covered bond legislation plan welcomed

  The Canadian government is planning to introduce covered bond legislation, according to the 2010 budget published yesterday (Thursday). [Updates yesterday’s news alert to include reaction.]

• ECB confirms move to lend covered bonds

  The European Central Bank will make available for lending the portfolio of covered bonds it has acquired under its Eu60bn purchase programme, it announced yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.

Secondary market news

• ECBC consults on ‘urgent topic' of transparency

  The European Covered Bond Council sent out a consultation paper on post-trade price transparency this (Thursday) morning, noting that it is considered an “urgent topic” by the European Central Bank and that an industry-led solution would be preferable to one imposed by the European Commission.

Uncovered

• Data corner: all benchmarks

  These charts and tables provide an overview of all benchmark covered bond issuance in January-February 2010, breaking down total supply by country and maturity, and comparing this year's volumes with those of previous months and years.

• Data corner: all covered bonds

  These charts and tables provide an overview of covered bond issuance in January-February 2010, breaking down total supply by country, currency, and maturity, and comparing this year's volumes with those of previous months and years.

The OC

• The Cover’s Deal of the Decade: a sign of the times

  You voted in your hundreds. Now find out which benchmark transaction of 2000-2009 has won the title of The Cover’s Deal of the Decade.