News
National Australia Bank (NAB) (AA-/Aa3/AA-) revealed plans for a potential 10-year non-call five-year tier-two domestic transaction, on 8 May. The deal is expected to launch in the near future, with the notes expected to be rated BBB/Baa1/A+.
On 8 May, Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) (AA-/Aa3/AA-) launched a new, three- and 5.25-year, senior-unsecured benchmark domestic transaction. The three-year tranche will come in floating-rate note format while the 5.25-year tranche will come in either or both fixed- and floating-rate formats. Initial price guidance for the tranches is 64 and 90 basis points area, respectively, over swap benchmarks. The transaction is expected to price on or before 9 May, according to sole lead manager Westpac Institutional Bank.
Bryan Collins, head of Asian fixed income at Fidelity International (Fidelity) in Hong Kong, speaks to KangaNews about how the investment manager views Australia as an investment destination within the burgeoning regional institutional credit market.
The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) is an international association for credit unions. There are credit unions in well over 100 countries, 90 of which are represented in WOCCU. KangaNews caught up with the organisation’s Madison, Wisconsin-based president and chief executive, Brian Branch, on an April study trip to Australia.
ING is the pioneer of the sustainability performance-linked loan (SPL) globally. Leonie Schreve, Amsterdam-based global head of sustainable finance, and Herry Cho, Singapore-based head of sustainable finance, Asia Pacific at ING, give KangaNews the lowdown on the nascent asset class.
On 7 May, Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) (AA-/Aa3/AA-) revealed plans for a self-led, benchmark Australian dollar denominated, senior-unsecured deal, expected to launch in the near future.
One of the main developments in the central-bank world in the decade since the financial crisis has been the emergence of a wider range of tools designed to complement the blunt instrument of rate moves. In a world where wages growth is the consistent economic laggard, perhaps it is time to explore macroprudential policy for wages.
The KangaNews Sustainable Debt Summit 2019 took place in Sydney on 18 March with a record number of delegates in attendance. The tone of discussion at the event has evolved in recent years, with the emphasis now much more clearly on delivery – the ‘how’ and ‘what’ as opposed to the ‘why’ of sustainable finance.
Athena Home Loans (Athena) is planning a multitrack approach to wholesale funding as it rolls out an ambitious plan to compete with the major banks for prime home-loan business. Public residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) issuance is part of the strategy but Athena is also targeting funding via a mortgage fund and direct loan sales, to reach investors that do not participate in the securitisation market.
On 6 May, NEXTDC (NR) mandated National Australia Bank to arrange an increase to its existing June 2022 floating-rate note (FRN) transaction.
High-profile difficulties experienced by some issuers in Australia’s high-yield bond market have brought the value and distribution of such securities into question. Institutional market participants say there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the high-yield sector but argue that troubled transactions reaffirm the need for securities to be properly valued and appropriately distributed.