Fana Sparebank Boligkreditt covered bonds obtained their first rating yesterday (Thursday), Aa1 from Moody’s, which the issuer had pursued with the aim of improving domestic capital market access and pricing.

The rating agency assigned the Aa1 rating to Nkr3.8bn of mortgage backed covered bonds across 10 series. The Timely Payment Indicator is “high”, and the issuer rating Baa2.

An official at the Norwegian issuer previously told The CBR that the bank wanted to have its covered bonds rated to counter “pricing discrimination” between rated and non-rated issuance in the Norwegian krone market. (See here for previous coverage.)