The Cyprus Cooperative Bank announced today (Tuesday) the planned issuance of covered bonds, in cooperation with Barclays, in an effort to diversify its funding sources.

(Updated to reflect The CBR’s understanding that the project is at an early stage, whereas initially the timing of any covered bond issuance was unclear.)

The Cypriot bank said it plans to list the covered bonds, with an investment grade rating, on the Dublin stock exchange.

Cyprus Cooperative Bank did not respond to a request for comment by The CBR’s deadline, and these details are based on a Google translation of an announcement published in Greek.

Nikolas Hatzigiannis, general manager of Cyprus Cooperative Bank, said the project reflects the aspirations and capabilities of the bank, and is in line with European peers. He said confidence could be drawn from the upward trend of the Cypriot economy and of Cypriot bonds.

Cyprus Cooperative Bank is the leading bank in Cyprus by market share in residents’ deposits, according to the bank. As of the end of September 2017, its total assets were EUR13.5bn.

The Republic of Cyprus is the majority shareholder, holding 77.34%.

Moody’s assigned first time ratings to the bank in March 2017, including a Counterparty Risk (CR) assessment of Caa1.

Photo credit: Mauro Bottaro/EC Audiovisual Service; Copyright: EU