Subordinated debt

EU countries will soon be able to grant subordinated debt to prop up virus-hit economies, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday, as state aid regulators once again loosened rules to make it easier for companies get state support.

Greece's Alpha Bank was set to price a 500 million euro Tier 2 bond issue at a yield of 4.25 percent, according to a lead manager.

The Greek lender received around 5.5 billion euros of investor demand for the subordinated bond issue, the lead manager said.

Pricing is expected later on Thursday via lead managers Citi, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan and NatWest Markets. 

National Bank (NBG), Greece's second largest lender, has opened the books on a 10-year Tier II subordinated bond, with initial price estimates around 9 percent, IFR, Refinitiv's capital markets news service, said on Thursday.

Following the successful completion of the stress tests, banks are now preparing to issue subordinated bonds, which until now had been effectively impossible.

Greek banks could attempt to raise subordinated debt after strong conditions reopened the door for many of the banking sector's black sheep, though some say it is far too early and that they will have to wait until after May's stress tests.