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

Lloyds debut recognises but beats HBOS curve
Lloyds TSB has priced a Eu1.5bn five year Regulated Covered Bond inside HBOS’s secondary curve, whose sway over the final re-offer level market participants had been debating given that the two issuers are part of the same group. Meanwhile, SpareBank 1 Boligkreditt issued a Eu1.25bn seven year deal.

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).

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.

RBC boosts domestic Canadian covered bond cause
Royal Bank of Canada yesterday (Monday) sold a C$850m (Eu606m/$826m) five year covered bond, which is only the second domestic Canadian issue and comes just days after plans to introduce legislation were revealed in the country’s budget.
Collateral has investors lining up for rare Terra
A high quality cover pool comprised of Norwegian residential mortgages was a strong selling point for a Eu600m two-and-a-half year Terra Boligkreditt covered bond, the issuer told The Cover after pricing the issue yesterday (Monday) afternoon.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.