News
The week beginning November 14 saw two new domestic corporate deals come to market. While the major banks turned their attention offshore - with ANZ Banking Group and Westpac Banking Corporation both completing their debut covered bond issues - the asset-backed market also saw the launch of a new auto deal from Capital Finance Australia. In New Zealand Transpower also announced a forthcoming transaction.
On November 15 Transpower (AA-/A1) priced its NZ$200 million (US$150.2 million) offer of unsecured bonds, comprising a four-year floating-rate maturity and a seven-year fixed-rate note. The issue is Transpower's first public transaction in New Zealand since the first half of 2010, when it issued NZ$100 million in a 10-year inflation-linked deal.
Caltex Australia launched and priced a new seven-year A$150 million (US$149.8 million) domestic bond on November 18, which was upsized from a launch volume of A$100 million. The deal is the fourth domestic corporate transaction inside a month after a three month primary market hiatus, with the most recent issue completed by Volkswagen Financial Services Australia (A-/A3) on November 16.
ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) became the first Australian major bank to issue a covered bond on November 15, taking US$1.25 billion in the US market. The bank's Melbourne-based head of group funding, Luke Davidson, exclusively tells KangaNews that the bank expects to build up a number of offshore covered bond programmes in the wake of strong demand for the debut transaction.
Capital Finance Australia issued a new asset-backed security based on a pool of auto loans on November 17. Bella Trust Series 2011-3 has a volume of A$568.3 million (US$559.2 million) spread across seven tranches, the top four of which have secured investment-grade ratings from Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings.
Authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) will pay an annual fee of 15 basis points for committed liquidity facilities (CLFs) provided by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) under new liquidity rules set to be implemented from the start of 2015. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) also suggests its reluctance to allow banks to rely on CLFs to supplement their liquid assets pools could – in the longer term – allow a widening of its list of first-order liquid securities.
Volkswagen Financial Services Australia (VW Australia) (A-/A3) priced a new three-year fixed rate domestic bond on November 16. The deal's volume was increased by A$50 million (US$50.7 million) from its minimum size at launch of A$100 million, with pricing matching its indicative margin of 135 basis points over mid-swap.
ING Bank Australia (ING) issued a new residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) deal on November 11. The deal, which achieved its indicative volume of A$750 million (US$760 million) across five tranches, is ING's third Australian RMBS issue. The borrower's most recent securitisation was issued in June this year at a size of A$800 million.
Philip Combes, treasurer at the New Zealand Debt Management Office (NZDMO) in Wellington, has been appointed the first chief executive officer of New Zealand's Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA). In a statement announcing his appointment, Combes – who will take up his new role early in 2012 – says he expects the LGFA "to be the second largest issuer in New Zealand's debt markets".