Crédit Agricole had to postpone the sale of a public sector covered bond that had been expected today (Wednesday) because of a “minor technical issue”, although a lead banker said the Eu500m 10 year could still emerge this week, and the delay is not considered likely to have a negative impact on execution.

Crédit Agricole Public Sector SCF announced a mandate yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon for a Eu500m no-grow 10 year OF, with leads ABN Amro, Banca IMI, BBVA, Crédit Agricole and DZ Bank. Syndicate bankers at the leads said yesterday that the deal was likely to be launched this morning, with the issuer keen to come to the market ahead of an ECB meeting on Thursday.

However, the French issuer announced at 9:15 CET this morning that due to “an unexpected minor technical issue related to the documentation” of the potential issue it has decided to postpone the deal.

“It is nothing material, but it is material enough just to put us in a position where we can’t proceed today,” said a syndicate banker at one of the leads. “It is nothing related to the transaction, per se.

“We want to be extremely transparent with investors and market participants, so we sent this very clear message.”

Some bankers away from the deal suggested that the issuer may now be forced to wait until next week to launch the deal because of the ECB meeting tomorrow, which is seen as having the potential to cause uncertainty and volatility. The lead banker said, however, that the deal could still be launched tomorrow or on Friday.

“We are now awaiting legal confirmation and subject to that we may proceed at any time,” said the lead syndicate banker. “If it is tomorrow, it would not be the first time that an issuer tapped the market ahead of an ECB press conference, so I would not rule out anything.

“It is a Eu500m no-grow issue, it is Crédit Agricole, and feedback has been very constructive, so we could still do the deal tomorrow morning.”

Bankers away from the leads said the postponement is unlikely to have any negative impact on the deal’s outcome.

“Whether they go this week or not, I don’t think the market’s going to move and the trade isn’t going to get away from them,” said one. “I think they’re just being fully due diligent, which is the right way to go.”

Another banker agreed.

“It is not at all something linked to the issuer’s credit quality, or the cover pool, and the tone is still very constructive,” he said. “I doubt they will have to offer more than they would have paid anyway.”

The deal would have been the first benchmark covered bond from Crédit Agricole Public Sector SCF since May 2013, when it sold a Eu1bn June 2023 issue.