Basle III: Denmark hits a covered wall

Basle III has been agreed and rubber-stamped in a remarkably short time. It might make the banking system more robust, but it has also ridden roughshod over some markets with near flawless reputations. One of them is Denmark, whose covered bond market is under threat. Hamish Risk reports

ATTEND A TYPICAL Copenhagen dinner party and conversation will invariably turn to the Danish covered bond market. It might seem a little offbeat, unless of course, you’re in the company of mortgage-bond bankers. In Denmark, though, this is a way of life. For the Danish covered bond market is the place where Danish homeowners meet to buy and sell their mortgage obligations. It is in effect the “people’s bond market”, created by and for the borrower, and it has been that way for more than 200 years.

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