Alpha Bank has become the first Greek issuer to sign up to the Covered Bond Label, in the latest move by Greece’s banks to bolster their profile in the international markets, and following speculation Alpha could join its peers in benchmark-sized covered bond issuance.

“Alpha Bank, as the first Greek bank to obtain the Covered Bond Label, further strengthens its long-established relationship with the international investor community,” said Nikolaos Zagorissios, senior manager of capital management and banking supervision division at Alpha Bank, “being prepared to fully comply with common standards as well as transparency and comparability requirements, already met by global covered bond issuers.”

Alpha Bank is the 96th issuer to sign up to the Label.

Luca Bertalot, Covered Bond Label Foundation administrator and secretary general of the EMF-ECBC, said Alpha Bank’s decision to join “confirms the importance for new covered bond market participants to ensure maximum transparency by implementing the Harmonised Transparency Template (HTT)”.

Some market participants have speculated that Alpha Bank has been preparing a covered bond issue after the bank was on 29 November assigned a B3 provisional rating for a soft bullet covered bond programme.

Alpha Bank declined to comment on any plans regarding covered bond issuance when asked by The CBR today.

Alpha Bank is the only one of the big four Greek banks to have not issued benchmark-sized covered bonds following the market’s reopening in October, when National Bank of Greece sold a Eu750m three year covered bond that was the first bank bond since the Greek debt crisis.

Eurobank Ergasias followed on 24 October with a Eu500m three year, while Piraeus on the same date priced a Eu500m five year that was mostly privately placed with European institutions.

Alpha Bank’s covered bond rating matches those of NBG, Eurobank and Piraeus, although the other Greek issuers each used programmes with conditional pass-through structures when returning to the market last year.