Crédit Agricole Assurances successfully places a €1 billion issue of Subordinated Fixed Rate Resettable Notes
Crédit Agricole Assurances has announced today the successful placement of a €1 billion issue of Subordinated Resettable Notes (the Notes), thus becoming the first insurance issuer of subordinated debt in the primary European market in 2018.
The prospectus for the issue includes a full description of the terms and conditions of the Notes. Due in 2048, the Notes will bear an annual fixed interest rate of 2.625% until the first call date in January 2028, after which date the rate will be reset. Interest payments may be deferred if Crédit Agricole Assurances group’s solvency requirement is not met, or at the request of the relevant supervisory authority’s (the Supervisor, currently the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution) or, at the issuer’s option. Deferrals at the issuer’s option are subject to conditions relating to the payment of dividends by Crédit Agricole Assurances.
The Notes may be redeemed at the issuer’s option on 29 January 2028. After this date, they may be redeemed early at the issuer’s option on each annual coupon payment date.The redemption of the Notes is subject to certain conditions including the prior approval of the Supervisor.
The Notes have been placed with institutional investors in Europe. The quality and diversity of the order book, 5.2 times oversubscribed, reflects the positive view investors have of Crédit Agricole Assurances.
This issue follows successfully completed previous issues in 2014 and 2015, which had enabled Crédit Agricole Assurances to finance (i) the early repayment of subordinated debt issued by Crédit Agricole Assurances,subscribed by the Crédit Agricole Group; and (ii) the growth of its business activity. It forms part of the Crédit Agricole Group and Crédit Agricole Assurances’ capital optimisation policy.
For Crédit Agricole Assurances, the purposes of this issue are (i) to reinforce the quality of its own funds eligible to cover Solvency 2 requirements; (ii) to improve Standard & Poor’s Total Available Capital (TAC) ratio; and (iii) to finance the growth of its activities. At Crédit Agricole Group level, the purposes of this issue are to improve (i) its regulatory solvency and resolution ratios and (ii) its Standard & Poor’s Risk Adjusted Capital (“RAC”) ratio.
Crédit Agricole Assurances is rated BBB+/positive outlook by Standard & Poor‘s. The Notes rated BBB- by Standard & Poors.
The settlement of the Notes took place on 29 January 2018.
The transaction has been structured for the Notes to be eligible as Tier 2 capital under Solvency II. The Notes will be treated as capital from a regulatory and Standard and Poors’ perspective within applicable limits.
The issue prospectus, which was granted visa no. 18-026 on 25 January 2018 by the Autorité des marchés financiers (the “AMF”), is available free of charge on the issuer’s website (http://www.ca-assurances.com/espace-investisseurs/notations-et-financements) and on the AMF website (www.amf-france.org) (www.amf-france.org).
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