The Cover - Giving you the edge in the covered bond market.

Fitch cuts IM Cédulas Popular despite cash collateral
Fitch downgraded IM Cédulas 1 Grupo Banco Popular’s mortgage backed covered bonds from AAA to AA, on stable outlook, yesterday (Thursday) because of a downgrade of Banco Popular Español’s rating from AA- to A.
Kommunalkredit covered lowered, more possible
Moody’s cut public sector-backed covered bonds issued by Kommunalkredit Austria from Aaa to Aa1 today (Friday) and placed them on review for further possible downgrade while it assesses a proposal from the issuer to increase “committed” overcollateralisation levels.
Cédulas TDA affirmed 14 despite Caja Madrid cuts
Fitch affirmed Cédulas TDA 14 at AAA, on stable outlook, yesterday (Thursday), in spite of a downgrade last week of Caja Madrid and its cédulas hipotecarias, to which Cédulas TDA 14 is heavily exposed.
S&P affirms Alpha’s covered bonds at A-
Standard & Poor’s affirmed Alpha Covered Bond programme at A-, on negative outlook, on Wednesday, and removed it from CreditWatch negative.

ECB promotes structured covered bonds
The European Central Bank is moving structured covered bonds from category IV to III of its collateral framework, meaning that they will have more lenient haircuts.
HFSC OKs covered bond bill, puts off key FDIC issue
The House Financial Services Committee passed the United States Covered Bond Act of 2010 yesterday (Wednesday) in a quick markup after some concessions were made to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. However, a compromise over how overcollateralisation should be treated has not yet been reached.

Banques Populaires tap larger than expected
Banques Populaires yesterday (Wednesday) priced a Eu340m increase to a 2.625% June 2015 covered bond at 50bp over mid-swaps, in line with guidance.

First post-stress tests deal suggests dislocation
The transparency of the methodology of the European stress tests and the disclosure of banks’ sovereign debt exposures they brought have been hailed as positive for the financial institutions bond markets, with Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria taking advantage of positive sentiment to launch a senior unsecured bond today (Wednesday) close to cédulas levels.

Banca delle Marche establishes OBG programme
Banca delle Marche has set up a Eu5bn covered bond programme, according to a rating release from Moody’s.

Covered bond awards: Nominations now! (please)
The deadline for lead managers to send in nominations for our covered bond awards poll is today (Friday). If you have not already done so, please let us have your nominations in the four relevant categories as soon as possible.
Covered bond awards: nominations, please!
The Cover and EuroWeek will be celebrating the best institutions and deals in the covered bond market at our annual awards dinner on 23 September at the Dolder Grand, Zurich. Here we list the categories that will be voted on shortly and, most importantly, detail those that require nominations before the poll begins.

BBVA's cédulas hipotecarias: famously successful
EuroWeek cartoonist Olly Copplestone’s take on Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria’s eye-catching offering.

Does sub-jumbo equal sub-standard?
With almost half of June’s new covered bond issues falling short of the Eu1bn jumbo requirement, the implications of Eu500m-plus issues are being grappled with by all sides of the market. Most market participants have adopted a constructive attitude toward the development, but with some investors wary of issuers’ motives, there appears to be near-unanimity on only one issue: the term “jumbolino” is not fit for purpose.
Data corner: all covered bonds H1 2010
These charts and tables provide an overview of covered bond issuance from January-June 2010, breaking down total supply by country, currency, and maturity, and comparing this year's volumes with those of previous months and years.

WestLB hires Distler for FIG DCM
Klaus Distler will join WestLB next month as a senior originator in the bank’s FIG team.
Hoarau quits LBBW for Crédit Agricole
Vincent Hoarau has left Landesbank Baden-Württemberg and will be joining Crédit Agricole as head of covered bond syndicate, The Cover understands.