News
On 24 November, following the release of Victoria’s state budget, Treasury Corporation of Victoria (TCV) (AAA/Aaa) revealed a total funding requirement for 2020/21 of A$45.8 billion (US$33.5 billion). TCV has already raised A$26.3 billion of the total and expects its requirement to fall to A$26.7 billion in 2021/22.
Chorus took advantage of supportive conditions to print the year’s largest New Zealand dollar corporate deal ahead of a May 2021 maturity. The issuer says it was very confident it would be supported by retail and institutional investors, including at 10-year tenor.
On 12 November, just a week after perhaps the most contentious and controversial election in US history, KangaNews convened a panel of US-based market participants to discuss the fallout as part of the KangaNews Debt Capital Markets Summit 2020 webinar series. The conversation covered the impact of a divided government, monetary and fiscal policy, and the US’s place on the world stage.
Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG)’s recent domestic deal was the first under its new financing entity which incorporates assets well-known to the Australian market under one programme. It follows a consent-solicitation process and debt consolidation that have garnered significant efficiencies for the issuer.
Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC) tells KangaNews a disrupted market earlier in the year delayed its return to the green-bond market. Its latest transaction was greeted with a significant oversubscription and greater participation from offshore.
National Australia Bank (NAB) returned to the Australian dollar market on 10 November, printing a new tier-two transaction in the week after the release of its annual results. The issuer says it remains open to longer duration in Australian dollar tier-two format despite selecting 10-year non-call five (10NC5) tenor this time.
World Bank’s latest Kangaroo deal made up for the borrower’s long absence from the Australian dollar market, setting a transaction volume record for Kangaroo supranational, sovereign and agency (SSA) borrowers. The issuer says the deal was made possible by a favourable readjustment in spread and the cross-currency basis.
Westpac Banking Corporation returned to the US dollar market for its latest tier-two transaction and scored a blockbuster book in a dual-tranche deal. The Australian major-bank supply dynamic, a reasonably clean US election result and renewed hopes for an imminent COVID-19 vaccine buoyed the transaction, the issuer says.
BC Invest became the second Australian nonbank issuer of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) backed primarily by nonresident loans with its 10 November deal. The borrower says a successful deal outcome was built on extensive investor engagement.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) announced in its November monetary policy statement (MPS) that it will introduce a funding for lending programme (FLP) that could total NZ$28 billion (US$19.3 billion). At the same time, the reserve bank notes that an improved economic outlook also makes a negative cash rate less likely in 2021.
The New Zealand Sustainable Finance Forum (NZSFF)’s final roadmap plots a route for reform which its authors say is necessary for the financial system to be fit for purpose in a sustainable future. The roadmap’s focus is long term and transformative in nature, but it proffers immediate, actionable measures appropriate for the urgency of the task.
When Australia went into lockdown, transport and shipping infrastructure saw an unprecedented business shock. Airport and toll-road passenger numbers collapsed while even freight flows dropped as the global economy ground to a halt. In October, KangaNews and Westpac Institutional Bank gathered key players in the Australian sector to discuss business impact, balance-sheet resilience and the swift rebound of debt capital markets including the domestic option.