A desire to diversify funding by accessing the deepest global market for covered bonds trumped lower funding costs at home for Bendigo and Adelaide Bank in its inaugural Euro covered deal.
Securitised product and issuance by offshore names were the substance of Australian primary market activity – anchored by benchmarks from Royal Bank of Canada and Svenska Handelsbanken. Australian corporate issuance got a boost in the form of a A$550 million deal from WestConnex Finance Company.