Benchmark covered bond supply is set to resume in earnest tomorrow (Wednesday) after a slew of mandates hit the screens today for deals that will span the spread spectrum, taking in a five year Pfandbrief, seven year Irish ACS and a 15 year OF issue.

Four covered bond mandates were announced today (Tuesday), three for new benchmarks that are expected to be launched imminently and one for a roadshow.

A syndicate banker said that the burst of activity was not due to any special event but followed the conclusion of conversations that several issuers had been having with banks about issuance opportunities.

“They said now is the time and are booking slots,” he said, adding that the mandated deals do not amount to competing supply given the mix of jurisdictions and maturities involved.

“You have the whole spread spectrum,” he said, “from tight, to tighter and tightest, or cheap, to cheaper, and cheapest.”

The benchmark covered bond market has been quiet since shortly before last Wednesday’s highly anticipated, and then surprising, Federal Reserve announcement on (non-)tapering, with parliamentary elections in Germany on Sunday also having given issuers reason to hold off making any decisions about deals.

The deal mandates that were publicly announced today are for a Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank seven year asset covered security, a Caffil 15 year public sector obligations foncières issue, and an HSH Nordbank five year mortgage Pfandbrief.

The deals are likely to be launched tomorrow although the leads said they are not sending out initial price thoughts today but announced deal plans to give investors time to check relative value ideas and, where relevant, line availability.

Italy’s Mediobanca, meanwhile, announced a roadshow of its OBG programme. (See separate article here.)

Other issuers are also said to be eyeing the market. Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederoesterreich-Wien (RLB Noe-Wien) recently finished a roadshow and is expected to emerge with a deal, while Italy’s UBI Banca has also been mentioned as exploring issuance opportunities.

Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank is targeting launch of a seven year asset covered security (ACS), via leads Citi, Danske Bank, Deutsche Bank, Nomura and RBS.

A syndicate banker away from the deal said that the 190bp over was the right “ballpark” for the planned deal. A syndicate banker at one of the leads said that an outstanding Bank of Ireland March 2018 deal at 165bp over plus 10bp-15bp for the extension from five to seven years would put fair value at 185bp over with a new issue premium then coming on top of that.

HSH Nordbank has mandated BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, HSH Nordbank, NordLB and UniCredit for a Eu500m no-grow five year mortgage Pfandbrief, with the leads citing outstanding HSH and Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (pbb) issuance as comparables, including a pbb August 2018 at 5.5bp over mid and a HSH April 2017 at 7bp over.

Also planning to tap the market tomorrow is Caisse Française de Financement Local (Caffil), which has mandated Crédit Agricole, Morgan Stanley, Société Générale, RBS and UniCredit to lead manage a 15 year public sector obligations foncières issue.

The deal would be the issuer’s second benchmark covered bond following its emergence as the successor to Dexia Municipal Agency (Dexia MA), and in line with plans for an autumn return mentioned by the issuer at the time of its debut in July.

A syndicate official away from the Caffil leads said that the issuer will have to offer a pick-up over long dated French government bonds, and that with October 2027 OATs trading around 47bp-48bp over mid-swaps mid, the high 50s over could be an  appropriate starting point for Caffil’s offering, with 55bp over a potential final outcome.

“I’d say there has to be at least 50bp on offer,” he said.

The Caffil leads are understood to be taking OAT levels into consideration and have also pointed investors in the direction of secondary levels for long dated French covered bonds, such as Caffil’s inaugural, seven year obligations foncières from July at 22bp/17bp over, and a Crédit Agricole 2025 issue at 43bp/38bp over.