Danske eyes govt loan guarantees on up to $19 bln

COPENHAGEN, June 16 (Reuters) - Denmark's biggest financial group, Danske Bank (DANSKE.CO), said on Tuesday it would pay 80 basis points to obtain a government guarantee on up to 100 billion Danish crowns ($18.66 billion) in bonds over the next year.

The bank said the sponsored issues would cover it's funding needs within the next 12 months along with private placements and mortgage bonds.

"Whether we'll issue everything we can will depend how markets perform. We've recently issued a five-year bond without government sponsorship, and we might decide to do that again," Cato Baldvinsson, Senior Vice President and Head of Group Treasury at Danske Bank, told Reuters.

Danske also said it would be able to issue up to three year funding under the government guarantee, but that it expected to receive a discount on the 80 bp fee on payments due prior to 30 September 2010, when a general government guarantee expires.

($1=5.359 Danish Crown) (Editing by Simon Jessop)