Syndicate bankers expect the market for euro benchmarks to be quiet as banks go into a period of blackouts, after a week in which Société Générale issued its first deal of the year and the tightest French covered bond since 2008 on Tuesday.

Syndicate bankers said that they were expecting covered bond issuance to be limited next week, highlighting the short week, banks entering blackout, and the lack of resolution to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine as factors. As of this morning, there were no publicly announced mandates in the pipeline.

“All these elements have converged and will not provide for the liveliest of weeks,” said a syndicate banker. “You may see something creep out of the woodwork.”

The syndicate banker said that with no issuers currently roadshowing there would likely be no issuance at all if there is no mandate by Tuesday.

Another syndicate banker said that while he was unaware of any specific mandates, there are issuers looking, adding that the week could see a mix of senior unsecured and covered bonds.

Société Générale SFH took advantage of a stable covered bond market on Tuesday to price a Eu750m no-grow 10 year at 26bp over mid-swaps, providing a pick-up of just 1bp over OATs.

The deal was the French issuer’s first euro benchmark since November, when it priced a Eu1bn eight year at 16bp over, and the tightest 10 year French covered bond since February 2008.

Leads Crédit Agricole, Erste, ING, Société Générale and UniCredit collected more than Eu1.2bn of orders from 70 accounts, with the tight pricing to French government bonds not dissuading the French, who made up 19% of total investors.

Vincent Robillard, head of group funding at Société Générale, said that the deal went very well, thanks to strong appetite from investors, against the backdrop of limited volatility in the covered bond market.

“It was our plan to be in the market with a covered bond during this period, but we did not have a precise date in mind, instead opting to wait for a good opportunity to step in,” he said. “Tuesday presented us with this, and as a result of strong investor support and appetite we were able to price the tightest 10 year French bond since February 2008 and a deal in line with French OATs.

“The deal is consistent with our long-term funding needs,” he added. “We announced that our long term funding programme for the year was Eu20bn-Eu25bn for the year, with around Eu15bn to Eu20bn done at group level.”

Despite wanting to reaffirm the Société Générale name in the market as a regular issuer, Robillard said that the French bank is unlikely to return to the covered bond market in the immediate future.

Speaking about forthcoming changes to French covered bond legislation, Robillard said that he expects neither Société Générale’s covered bond, nor the broader French covered bond market, to be affected.

“At the end of the day we are already monitoring our covered bonds to the standard proposed,” he said. “If anything, it will slightly strengthen the market.”