DBS is set for a return to the US dollar market for the first time since its debut covered bond in 2015, having today (Thursday) announced plans to update investors next week ahead of a planned three or five year 144A/Reg S benchmark, which will be its first benchmark covered bond in a year.

The Singaporean bank has mandated DBS, Barclays, HSBC, ING, TD and UBS to arrange investor update meetings and calls for Asia, Europe and North America from Monday, with a view to issuing a covered bond thereafter, subject to market conditions.

DBS has not issued in US dollars since it sold a $1bn (EUR873m, SGD1.371bn) three year trade as its debut covered bond issue in July 2015 – that transaction matured in August. The only other Singaporean covered bond issued is a United Overseas Bank (UOB) $500m March 2020 deal that was issued in February 2017.

Lloyds offered rare UK covered bond supply in US dollars on Monday, a $750m three year Reg S deal that bankers said offered funding inside what the issuer could have achieved in euros. Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion provided the last 144A dollar covered bond supply, in mid-October, with the Canadians selling an aggregate $3.75bn of three year paper.

The new issue is set to come a year after DBS’s last benchmark covered bond, a EUR500m seven year deal in November 2017 that was priced at 1bp through mid-swaps – the tightest pricing achieved on a Singaporean euro benchmark covered bond.