Société Générale Lettres de Gage Banque will shortly launch its first covered bonds, four public sector backed issues of Eu225m that will initially be retained by the Luxembourg bank.

The floating rate bonds will mature in 2013, 2016, 2018, and 2021, according to an official at the issuer, who said that it hopes to be able to launch the covered bonds before the end of the month.

Standard & Poor’s on Thursday assigned a preliminary AAA rating to the issuer’s Eu10bn lettres de gage programme and the inaugural issuance.

The programme is a complementary funding tool for SG, said S&P, allowing it to refinance assets that are not eligible under its existing French Société de Crédit Foncier (SCF) and Société de Financement de l’Habitat (SFH) covered bond programmes.