BNS, RBC and CIBC tapped sterling, US and Aussie dollars, respectively, today, with BMO set to add further Sonia supply tomorrow, as Canadian banks hit all four corners of the global covered bond market today (Tuesday). CA next bank meanwhile sold the first Swiss green covered bond yesterday.

With HSBC Bank Canada selling a €750m (C$1.12bn) five year euro debut (see separate article), Canadian banks were today active across four currencies – Australian dollars, euros, sterling and US dollars – with a Bank of Montreal sterling trade expected tomorrow (Wednesday) and Equitable Bank due to debut in euros, meaning that as many as six of the jurisdiction’s 10 issuers could have issued by the end of the week.

Canadian issuers have often followed each other into the same market and also maturity, and a banker welcomed the diversity of their latest burst of supply.

“If we can get them doing more trades in different currencies and different tenors, the market becomes a lot bigger for everyone, which is a good thing for the country,” he added.

Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank, BNS) leads RBC, Scotiabank, Standard Chartered and UBS opened books this morning with initial guidance of Sonia plus 27bp for the March 2025 sterling benchmark covered bond. The FRN was priced at Sonia plus 23bp and sized at £1.5bn (C$2.6bn, €1.75bn) on the back of £1.8bn of demand.

Scotiabank’s issue is the first sterling covered bond since MünchenerHyp sold a £350m three year fixed rated deal on 8 July, two days after Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) issued a £1.25bn five year FRN, with Scotiabank itself having priced a £1.3bn five year FRN on 14 June.

Bank of Montreal (BMO) is set to follow Scotiabank into the sterling market tomorrow with a its inaugural Sonia-linked benchmark, a five year, after a mandate announcement today. BMO, HSBC, NatWest and Santander are leads.

A syndicate banker at one of the leads said the announcement today will give investors time to prepare for the first Sonia-linked issue from BMO as well as putting down a marker in the busy market.

Royal Bank of Canada leads RBC, Citi, Credit Suisse, HSBC, Standard Chartered and UBS went out this morning went out with initial price thoughts of the mid-swaps plus 20bp area for its September 2026 144A/Reg S dollar benchmark. The spread was fixed at 18bp as The CBR was going to press, with the size yet to be determined.

The transaction is the first dollar benchmark since Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) sold a $2bn five year on 29 June.

CIBC Sydney sold its largest Australian dollar issue today, a A$1.5bn (C$1.4bn, €940m) five year. The Australian dollar benchmark transaction was announced yesterday (Monday) morning Sydney time and this morning leads ANZ, CIBC, HSBC, NAB and Westpac went out with IPTs of the BBSW plus 40bp area. The deal was sized at A$1.5bn after demand peaked above A$2bn, with a banker at one of the leads noting that the strength of demand allowed for tightening in to BBSW+37bp.

“A great return to the Aussie market for CIBC,” he added.

Crédit Agricole next bank (CAnb) sold the first green covered bond in Swiss francs and from a Swiss issuer yesterday, a CHF150m (€138m) 10 year domestic issue. Bookrunner Credit Suisse and joint lead Crédit Agricole priced the new issue, rated AAA by Fitch, at a yield of 0.03% and a spread of 33.6bp over government bonds, equivalent to mid-swaps plus 12.25bp.

The deal is the third off CAnb’s CHF2bn covered bond programme, which was established in August 2020, and is issued under the Crédit Agricole Group green bond framework. An appendix to the framework specifies the criteria for the energy efficient Swiss mortgage loans that are the use-of-proceeds of the Swiss subsidiaries green covered bond.