CFF is set for an inaugural issue of social obligations foncières supporting social housing and healthcare under the BPCE group’s sustainable development bond programme as early as this week, with Kookmin the only other name in the euro covered bond pipeline.

ABN Amro, BayernLB, Natixis, Nordea, Scotiabank and UniCredit have the mandate for the €500m no-grow long five year issue for Compagnie de Financement Foncier (CFF), which was announced yesterday (Monday) morning. Investor virtual meetings were available from yesterday afternoon and a global investor call is scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday) to market the programme, for which fellow BPCE group member Natixis is sole structuring advisor and roadshow coordinator.

The promotion of social housing organisations and public hospitals is the objective of CFF’s covered bond within BPCE’s broader framework, with the €819m of eligible loans as of end-July split €486m to social housing and €333m to healthcare. CFF’s history of helping low income populations is flagged in an investor presentation for the planned debut.

BPCE SFH issued a €750m 10 year covered bond in June dedicated to green buildings, while BPCE SA has issued €500m senior preferred and Tier 2 transactions this year with themes of sport economy and healthcare, and local economic development.

According to pre-announcement comparables circulated by the leads, CFF May 2029s issued in May this year were quoted at an I-spread of plus 30bp, mid, and September 2031s issued in March at plus 32bp, while older issues maturing from September 2028 to September 2030 were quoted at 24.5bp-26bp. BPCE March 2029s and October 2029s issued this year were seen at plus 28.5bp and 29.5bp, respectively.

In France, Caffil has issued obligations foncières supporting public hospitals, while Crédit Agricole and La Banque Postale have issued covered bonds dedicated to social housing. CFF is unique among French issuers in having both public assets and home loans in its cover pool.

Maureen Schuller, head of financials sector strategy at ING, noted that the new issue will lift 2023 social bond issuance from France, at €3bn, above green French covered bond issuance for the year of €2.75bn. Both are above 2022’s levels, while overall French supply is up more than €9bn, at €38.9bn.

Also yesterday morning, Kookmin Bank teed up a three to five year euro benchmark, mandating BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, Crédit Agricole, HSBC, ING and SG for the trade. According to pre-announcement comparables accompanying the mandate announcement, Kookmin July 2025s were quoted at mid-swaps plus 29bp, mid, its January 2026s at plus 35bp and October 2026s at 42bp.

The primary market was meanwhile quiet, with a German public holiday today (Tuesday), and the French and South Korean deals are expected in the second half of the week.