News & Analysis: interviews

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) took a new direction this month (Dec. 8) when it offered covered bonds denominated in Swiss Francs (CHF). CIBC's CHF 675 million (USD $657.89 million) covered bond issue contrasts with Royal Bank of Canada's (RBC's) decision earlier this year to issue covered bonds denominated in Canadian dollars.

 In an email interview with Covered Bond Investor™, CIBC'S Wojtek Niebrzydowski (VP, Treasury) provided some perspective on the Swiss Franc offering:

The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) made headlines when it became the first Canadian bank to sell covered bonds denominated in Canadian dollars (Oct. 29).  In contrast to earlier series, which were pitched towards Europe, fully 99% of this issuance was purchased within Canada.

RBC's Ken Mason, Senior Manager, Capital and Term Funding, answered some written questions from Covered Bond Investor™ as follows:

Why and when did RBC start thinking about issuing a new covered bond?  

In late July of this year, Covered Bond Investor™ briefly noted the fact that a French covered bond issuer, CFF (Compagnie de Financement Foncier) had applied to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an order exempting CFF from provisions of the (U.S.) Investment Act of 1940 in connection with the offer and sale of its securities in the U.S.

A notice in the Federal Register (July 28) stated:

In this final segment of our interview, Jens Tolckmitt talks about the use of U.S. and Canadian loan assets in German Pfandbriefe (legislative covered bonds).  Mr. Tolckmitt is Executive Director of the Association of German Pfandbrief Banks (vdp)—the umbrella organization of Germany's Pfandbriefe issuing banks.