WSJ: RBC to Issue U.S. Dollar-Denominated Covered Bond

A story in the Wall Street Journal by Prabha Natajaran (April 7) describes plans by Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) to price a covered bond (CB) denominated in U.S. dollars (USD) this week.

This would be RBC's first CB in USD.  As the WSJ notes, it would follow an historic, highly successful $2 billion issue from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) in January — the first-ever USD covered bond from a Canadian bank.  According to CIBC's case study, a full 84 percent of that CB issue went to U.S. investors.

RBC's most recent previous covered bond, issued in March, was denominated in Canadian dollars (C$ 850 million, equivalent to $847.8 in USD).  RBC has pioneered CB issuance to Canada's domestic market.