Toronto-Dominion Bank priced a £500m three year floating rate note today (Wednesday), attracting sufficient demand to size the deal above a £250m minimum target amount, after Bank of Nova Scotia yesterday (Tuesday) sold a $1.1bn five year benchmark.

Toronto-Dominion leads HSBC and TD launched the £500m (Eu683m, C$928m) three year FRN with initial price thoughts of the three month Libor plus 23bp area, set guidance at 20bp-22bp over, then re-offer the paper at 21bp over. The final book size was over £500m.

A banker at one of the leads noted that the issuer had set a minimum size of £250m for the deal.

“Perhaps there was a smaller deal to be done at 20bp, but the issuer was happy to print £500m at 21bp,” he said.

The lead banker said the issuer had opted for the sterling-denominated deal – the ninth sterling covered bond of 2015 – because, at current swap levels, the currency looked compelling.

He also noted that TD has now issued £1.9bn in sterling instruments since September, having launched a £900m FRN that month and a £500m senior unsecured deal in January.

“There aren’t many issuers to have taken out that much in sterling supply in such a short period of time,” he said, “especially when it comes to non-UK names.”

Meanwhile, Bank of Nova Scotia leads BAML, Barclays, Citi, Bank of Nova Scotia and UBS yesterday launched a $1.1bn (Eu1.01bn, C$1.37bn) five year covered bond with guidance of the 37bp area, a level that was maintained for the re-offer.

“It looks like one-size-fits-all,” said a syndicate official away from the leads, noting that at 37bp over the price was in line with US dollar trades from TD and Stadyshpotek launched on 26 March and 1 April, respectively.

The deal is the seventh US dollar issue of the year, with the number of deals in 2015 now exceeding last year’s total.

Syndicate officials said many other issuers are looking at the market ahead of possible euro-denominated deals, noting that the backdrop had improved since last week.

“This relative quietness in the market is not a sign that issuers are not willing to launch deals or that investors are not willing to buy them,” said one. “It is just that many issuers are deciding whether this week or maybe next week would be better.

“The market is deep enough for a couple of trades.”

Another said he would be surprised if there was no primary activity in the euro market this week.

“People are still taking stock,” he said, “but the market definitely feels more solid.”