CaixaBank completed its inaugural dollar-denominated bond placement in the American market, selling 1.25 billion dollars of six-year priority non-preferred debt in a prime non-preferred format with an option to repay early in year five.
The issue was priced at 250 basis points over the five-year US Treasury, narrowing from the originally indicated 275 basis points thanks to strong demand in recent weeks. Investor interest surpassed 3.4 billion dollars, with nearly 90 institutional buyers participating in CaixaBank’s first ever dollar issuance.
With this milestone, CaixaBank signals its intent to become a regular issuer in the North American capital market, diversifying its funding base and creating a liquid benchmark in the secondary market that can guide future U.S. market transactions.
The diversification expands the potential investor reach, helping to lower financing costs and broaden access across markets. Dollar-denominated issuance provides a broad, stable investor base and enhances the bank’s ability to issue across market cycles.
Jump to the American market
For a bank of CaixaBank’s scale and growth trajectory, the move into the United States aligns with its ambition to expand beyond traditional funding channels. CaixaBank has grown into Spain’s largest bank, underpinned by a substantial balance sheet and a broad European retail footprint, with business volumes and market value indicating robust capitalization and liquidity.
By reinforcing the position of its liability structure through this reconfigurable issuance, CaixaBank remains comfortably above the MREL requirement set for January 1, 2024, reaffirming its strategy to build a flexible debt buffer that protects senior creditors and depositors. The group relied on leading banks to place the transaction, with Barclays, BNP Paribas, BofA Securities, CaixaBank, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley coordinating the deal.
The 1.25 billion dollar issuance adds to a series of international placements in pounds, Swiss francs, and other currencies in earlier years. Notably, in March 2022 CaixaBank issued a 500 million pound sterling non-preferred senior loan; in June 2021 it issued 200 million Swiss francs of priority non-preferred debt; and in May 2021 it placed a 500 million pound sterling premium non-preferred green bond. Additionally, the bank has accessed the Japanese market with several yen-denominated issuances worth more than 180 million euros in total.