Commerzbank, which was effectively nationalised by the German government yesterday, has attracted almost double the demand it needed to raise €5bn ($6.84bn) worth of state-guaranteed bonds, in a sale that came just days after the German state failed to raise the full subscription it was aiming for from an auction of 10-year notes.

Commerzbank's three-year bond, the first state-guaranteed issue from the German banking sector, attracted almost €9bn worth of orders from investors within three hours from the transaction being announced, a deluge of demand in stark contrast to the level of appetite for the €6bn government bond auction.