News
On May 15, Bank of Queensland (BOQ) priced a new wholesale-only additional tier-one transaction in the domestic market. BOQ was seeking to raise around A$150 million, the issuer reveals, with the margin determined by a bookbuild process.
Issuance maintained a steady pace in the week under review, with the majority of deals priced in the Australian dollar market. Asciano priced the largest 10-year deal for a corporate borrower since 2007 while in New Zealand L-Bank debuted in Kauri format.
Firstmac priced its first prime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) of 2015. The transaction – Firstmac Mortgage Funding Trust No.4 Series 2015-1 – was upsized from an indicative volume of A$500 million (US$395.6 million) across eight tranches.
Export Development Canada (EDC) (AAA/Aaa) priced an increase to its 2019 Kangaroo bond on May 14, in what is the borrower's first Australian dollar deal of 2015. According to KangaNews data, the line was introduced in May last year at a volume of A$400 million (US$325.8 million) and later increased by A$300 million in November. That deal, which was also the last time the borrower visited the Kangaroo market, had pricing of 53.25 basis points over Australian government bond.
On May 15, L-Bank (AAA/Aaa/AAA) priced a new New Zealand dollar, four-year, fixed-rate transaction in what is the issuer's debut deal in the Kauri market.
A little over two years since the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) ceased investing in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), the government debt management agency announced on May 13 that it would be selling its approximately A$4.6 billion (US$3.7 billion) residual portfolio. Securitisation market participants' response to the news of a substantial forthcoming inflow for the secondary market to absorb contains some surprises.
A new product designed to package seasoned wholesale corporate bonds in a way which makes them accessible to retail investors in both regulatory and volume terms launched on May 14. The company behind the product believes there is an untapped pool of demand – mainly in the term deposit (TD) allocations of self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) – which only eschews the corporate bond asset class because of access constraints.
On May 14, BNP Paribas Australian Branch (BNP Paribas Australia) (A+/A1/A+) priced a new benchmark dual-tranche senior-unsecured Australian dollar line. According to KangaNews data, the transaction is the bank's first Australian domestic bond issue since September 2013.
Clear and decisive engagement with the domestic corporate market assisted Australia's latest non-financial credit issuer to reach record-breaking heights, market participants insist. Value assessments on Asciano Finance (Asciano)'s 10-year transaction vary, but the volume outcome – which the issuer says far exceeded expectations – supports belief that the domestic option can feature in the global mix.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has offered the first public insights from its review of banks' mortgage-lending standards. The impression given by APRA's chairman, Wayne Byres, in a May 13 speech is that the regulator is far from universally happy with the way all authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) calculate borrowers' likely ability to service mortgage debt.
Oesterreichische Kontrollbank(OKB) (AA+/Aaa) priced the second increase of its August 2025 Kangaroo bond on May 12. According to KangaNews data, the line was first introduced at volume of A$125 million (US$99.1 million) in February this year and was topped up by A$75 million later in March. That most recent increase had pricing of 67.5 basis points over Australian government bond.