EBS Building Society has raised €300 million (£236 million) through a floating rate bond issue in the European capital markets. The funds were raised as part of a €1 billion Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) facility arranged by Merrill Lynch International.

This is the first time EBS has accessed this source of funds. Head of treasury, Mr Mike Lennon said the facility has been put in place to diversify its funding base and to increase presence in the capital markets. He said: "EBS intends to use the EMTN facility as a flexible and cost effective element of its ongoing wholesale funding requirement." Part of the issue is to be used to refinance existing short-term bank debt. The funds have been raised for a term of four years, yielding 0.23 per cent over the three-month Euribor rate.