Raiffeisenbank a.s. has mandated Barclays, BNP Paribas, Raiffeisenbank International and UniCredit for investor calls on 29 September ahead of a potential euro-denominated covered bond issue.

The Czech issuer’s only public benchmark-style euro covered bond was a Eu500m five year deal in October 2014, half of which was retained.

An official at the issuer said the potential new issue might not be benchmark size and would be unlikely to be retained. He added that any issue would likely be a three or five year deal, with a five year being the issuer’s preferred option.

He said that euro issuance is currently attractive to Czech issuers because of the basis swap between euros and Czech korunas.

The official noted that Raiffeisenbank’s covered bonds were upgraded from A3 to A1 by Moody’s in June, on the back of the implementation of the rating agency’s new methodology as well as an upgrade of the issuer’s shadow core rating.

Enhancements to the Czech covered bond framework are meanwhile being prepared.