News
The first week of October saw limited deal flow in Australasian primary markets, though two asset-backed securities deals were priced with Volkswagen Financial Services Australia's A$937 million (US$633.1 million) auto transaction and Liberty Financial's A$550 million SME print. Meanwhile, Treasury Corporation Victoria tapped its November 2034 line via syndication, bringing total outstanding in the line to A$1 billion.
On 4 October, Pepper Group (Pepper) began taking indications of interest for its residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) refinancing deal, PRS 19 AR-u. Indicative total volume for the deal is A$175 million (US$118 million), according to National Australia Bank.
Improved relative pricing and a desire to diversify a substantial total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) requirement led Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG Group) to print its debut Australian dollar benchmark deal in September. The issuer is putting its green-bond-qualifying assets behind its TLAC programme in a bid to maximise the participating investor base.
On 3 October, CNH Industrial Capital Australia (CNH Capital) (BBB by S&P) mandated ANZ and Citi for a potential three-year debut domestic senior-unsecured transaction.
On 2 October, Coles Group (Coles) (BBB+/Baa1) mandated MUFG Securities, National Australia Bank and Westpac Institutional Bank to arrange a series of investor meetings in Asia and Australia beginning 10 October regarding a potential Australian dollar denominated transaction.
The New Zealand Financial Markets Authority (FMA) says the purpose of its consultation on socially responsible investment (SRI) product is to foster a supportive regulatory environment while ensuring such product is appropriately labelled for retail investors in particular. Simultaneously, the regulator is also attempting to take a flexible approach to same-class exemption for green, social and sustainability (GSS) bonds.
On 1 October, Liberty Financial (Liberty) launched its small-ticket commercial loans SME asset-backed securities (ABS) deal, Liberty 2019-1 SME. The deal has total indicative volume of A$400 million (US$268.2 million), with the potential to upsize, and is expected to price on or before 3 October. Westpac Institutional Bank is arranger for the transaction and joint lead manager alongside Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Treasury Corporation of Victoria (TCV) (AAA/Aaa) launched a syndicated increase to its November 2034 bond on 1 October. Indicative price guidance for the forthcoming transaction, which is expected to price on the day after launch, is 85-88 basis points area over the 10-year futures contract, equivalent to 61.5-64.5 basis points area over the Australian Commonwealth government bond. ANZ and Westpac Institutional Bank are leading.