Orrick Paris Advises AXA Banque and Natixis in Setting Up of Covered Bonds Issuer

An Orrick team in Paris advised AXA Banque and Natixis, as arranger, in setting up a covered bonds issuer in the form of a French société de financement de l’habitat named AXA Home Loan SFH (the Issuer) and its €10 billion EMTN issuance program of obligations de financement de l’habitat.

We also advised the Issuer as part of its inaugural issue of €1 billion of covered bonds on July 5, 2019. The covered bonds were admitted to trading on Euronext Paris and rated AAA by Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s. The joint lead managers of the inaugural issue were assisted by CMS Francis Lefebvre Avocats.

The Orrick team, which included partner Hervé Touraine, of counsel Judith Rousvoal, and associates Giovanbattista Gianni and Paul Bignebat, advised on corporate law aspects of the constitution of the Issuer, the regulatory aspects of the license of the Issuer by the European Central Bank, the legal structuring aspects of the Issuer, and the capital markets aspects of its EMTN program.