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A recent rush of issuance activity in the Australian dollar market continued into a new week as Asian Development Bank (ADB) (AAA/Aaa) priced a new 2018 maturity Kangaroo on January 22. The transaction – the 10th to come to the Kangaroo market so far in the new year – takes the total volume of Kangaroos already priced in 2013 to A$4.625 billion (US$4.87 billion).

Australia's domestic corporate bond market opened for the year on January 18 as QIC Shopping Centre Fund (A-) launched and priced a new five-year transaction to be issued by QIC Finance (Shopping Centre Fund).

Diversity joined volume in the second full week of the year. High-grade Kangaroo issuance in Australia was complemented by the return to the market of local and international financial institution borrowers, a small syndicated deal in the semi-government sector, and a corporate transaction.

On January 18 Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) (AA-/Aa2/AA-) became the second Australian major bank to issue a new domestic benchmark in 2013, pricing a new five-year senior unsecured deal on the same day as launch. The self-led deal comes in the same week as the first big four bank domestic benchmark of the year, in which Commonwealth Bank of Australia sold A$2.5 billion (US$2.6 billion) in its own 2018 maturity issue.

Conducive pricing, a positive market tone and a desire for diversity in Australian dollar investments are likely to prompt more international financial institutions (FIs) to follow Wells Fargo into the Australian market in the near future, the US bank's lead managers say. Wells Fargo priced A$900 million (US$949.2 million) in a new five-year Kangaroo issue on January 17, at a margin only just wider than domestic major bank issuance.

Issuance diversity made an early return to 2013's Kangaroo market, as Wells Fargo & Company (Wells Fargo) (A+/Aa2/A-) priced the year's first Kangaroo from a borrower outside the supranational, sovereign and agency (SSA) sector on January 17. The transaction is the issuer's first foray into the Australian dollar market since May 2007, and comes four months prior to the maturity of its only remaining outstanding Kangaroos.

Rentenbank (AAA/Aaa/AAA) became the first Kangaroo borrower to price a second Kangaroo transaction in 2013 on January 17, as the agency added a new 10-year maturity to its Australian dollar curve. On January 11 Rentenbank made its Kangaroo debut for the year with the pricing of an A$400 million (US$420 million) increase to its existing 2020 bond.

Treasury Corporation of Victoria (TCV) (AAA/Aaa) priced a A$100 million (US$105.1 million) increase to its November 2026 benchmark bond on January 17. The line was introduced via a June 2011 bookbuild at initial volume of A$220 million; although it has not previously been increased by syndication its volume had grown to A$2.1 billion by the end of November 2012 according to TCV data.

Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) (AAA/Aaa/AAA) priced a new five-year Kauri transaction on January 17, adding a new NZ$350 million (US$293.9 million) 2018 to its New Zealand dollar curve. NIB is one of the Kauri market's most regular issuers, having placed a total of NZ$2.025 billion in total including at least one transaction in every year since 2007.

Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC) revealed an unchanged annual funding task, of A$18.7 billion (US$19.7 billion) including A$13.7 billion of term debt, on January 16 following the Queensland government's mid-year fiscal and economic review in December. The treasury corporation has already issued A$7 billion of term debt, putting it almost exactly on track with its 2012/13 requirement.