Alpha Bank Romania announced that it completed the first mortgage bond issue worth EUR 200 million, a first for the banking market in Romania.

With these bonds, Alpha Bank Romania re-finances bundles of retail mortgage loans. The bank plans to issue EUR 1 billion of such debt instruments.

Both local and international institutional investors, such as the International Financial Corporation (IFC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), bought Alpha Bank’s covered bonds, Ziarul Financiar reported. EBRD announced that it invested EUR 40 million, taking a fifth of the whole issue.

“Following the success of Alpha Bank, and in the context of improved legislation, we hope to see mortgage bonds issues from other Romanian banks as well. Several similar programs will improve the resilience of the Romanian banking system, also contributing to increased lending and financial intermediation,” said Lucyna Stanczak-Wuczynska, EBRD Director for EU Banks.

The bank plans to list the bonds on both the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/Alpha Bank)