Van Lanschot is expected to sell its second, CPT benchmark covered bond tomorrow (Tuesday), after having mandated for a Eu500m seven year issue, while bankers forecast an otherwise quiet week with Easter holidays fast approaching and the list of prospective issuers slim.

F van Lanschot Bankiers announced a mandate for the Eu500m no-grow seven year conditional pass-through (CPT) covered bond this (Monday) morning, with leads ING, JP Morgan, LBBW, Natixis and Rabobank.

A syndicate official at one of the leads said the new issue will likely arrive tomorrow.

“But we are not in a rush,” he added. “Wednesday is just as fine as Tuesday.”

The mandate comes after Van Lanschot and its leads completed a European roadshow on Friday.

The deal will be the Dutch issuer’s second benchmark covered bond, following its debut in April of last year, a Eu500m seven year that attracted Eu1.4bn of orders and was priced at 1bp over mid-swaps.

Syndicate officials at the leads saw the Van Lanschot April 2022s quoted at 11bp, mid, and cited fellow Dutch issuer NIBC’s CPT April 2019s at 6bp and April 2022s at 9bp. They also saw soft-bullet 2022-2024 paper from ABN Amro and ING trading between flat and 3bp.

The last benchmark covered bond from the Netherlands was a Eu1.25bn 10 year issue for ABN Amro on 7 January.

No benchmark covered bond issues emerged today, and syndicate officials said supply will likely be limited this week, with some jurisdictions marking public holidays from Thursday, and markets across Europe closed on Friday and next Monday over the Easter period.

“It is a calm market but Easter is approaching fast, and I would think we are now looking at the last couple of trades before the holiday,” said one.

Bankers noted that markets had opened slightly weak, with European equities slightly down, but said this was not a factor in the quiet starts on both the primary and secondary markets.

“We had a slightly soft open, but that’s been retraced through the morning and equities are now pretty much unchanged, and it was nothing so significant to derail an issuer that was looking to go,” said a syndicate official. “It’s not a market issue.”

The syndicate official added that, after heavy supply in recent weeks, the list of prospective issuers is slim. Issuers have sold some Eu63.35bn of euro-denominated benchmark supply year-to-date, up from some Eu38.5bn over the same period last year.

“In terms of candidates, there just aren’t many issuers that haven’t got some form of funding in during the last couple of weeks,” he said. “We’ve had a consistent flow of supply since the markets reopened, and it could be that people are taking the opportunity to take a breather.”

Another syndicate official said that some issuers were looking, noting that peripheral supply in particular has been relatively modest so far this year and that market conditions are supportive for such issuers, but said they may opt to wait until market participants return next week.

“Based on conversations with issuers, some are keen,” he said. “But I would expect more activity next week than this.”

Bankers said opportunistic trades could not be ruled out before the market closes, but said that any further supply will likely arrive tomorrow or on Wednesday.

“You could still do a deal on Thursday, but in terms of optimal execution Wednesday will be the last really good window,” said one. “People will start putting down their pencils on Wednesday afternoon.”