Online articles

  • A new episode for TCorp

    New South Wales Treasury Corporation (TCorp) has a 2019/20 funding programme twice the size of the year prior and is changing its issuance and investor-relations strategy as a result. A government commitment to investment in infrastructure is a central driver of the funding need.
  • ASF spreads the word

    As part of its goal of developing global investor engagement with Australasian asset-backed securities, the Australian Securitisation Forum hosts an annual showcase in London. Taking place on 10 June this year, the event attracted a raft of institutional investors to hear more about the Australian housing market and securitisation product.
  • ASIC and RBA bring out the big guns to drive home IBOR message

    The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) have co-opted the heads of two of the world’s most significant financial regulators as they endeavour to heighten local market engagement with the process of transition away from global interbank offered rates (IBORs).
  • Corporate issuers in a global credit bull market

    BNP Paribas and KangaNews convened their longstanding roundtable for corporate issuers in Sydney in July. Participants share a detailed view of a global market in which liquidity continues to outstrip credit supply by a significant margin – and where issuers hold the whip hand as a consequence. There are still challenges for responsible issuers, however.
  • Critical thinking

    Global leaders in the green, social and sustainablility (GSS) bond space are acutely aware of the core goal of the asset class: to drive capital into sustainable assets and thus help reshape the world economy. A debate is raging about how best to bring more participants into the environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment world – all while the climate-change clock is ticking.
  • Dissecting the EU taxonomy

    On 18 June, the EU technical expert group (TEG) subgroup on taxonomy published the Taxonomy Technical Report. The taxonomy is expected to become the world’s foremost roadmap for sustainable investment, with a key definitional role in the green-bond market.
  • Failure of leadership

    When it comes to political leadership on the most pressing economic issues of the day, Australia has got itself into a right mess. More bold ideas appear to be definitively off the table than remain on it and in the absence of any meaningful vision the country bumbles along, coping with its structural imbalances rather than taking them on.
  • Fitch takes ESG to a new level

    A holistic approach to integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into credit processes is becoming the norm across the global debt market. Fitch Ratings (Fitch)’s integrated scoring system has been operational for close to six months and Andrew Steel, the rating agency’s London-based managing director and global head of sustainable finance, explains why the agency believes this system could...
  • Foot off the gas

    The long-term trend is still in the right direction, but investors and intermediaries in Asia say regional interest in Australia has taken a step back in the past 12 months. There are still many reasons for Australian market participants to maintain and grow their Asian engagement, however.
  • Housing NZ: the next chapter

    Housing New Zealand (Housing NZ) has issued more than half its borrowing protocol limit as well as the largest green, social and sustainability (GSS)-themed bond in New Zealand, despite re-entering the market barely a year ago. Sam Direen, Wellington-based treasurer at Housing NZ, says the issuer’s journey is only just beginning.
  • ING sets out its stall for the long haul

    Isabel Fernandez, head of wholesale banking at ING Bank (ING) in Amsterdam, spoke exclusively with KangaNews when she visited Australia in May. She shares her aspirations for the bank’s wholesale franchise in Australia, including the emerging role of sustainability-performance-linked loans (SPLs).
  • KangaNews Fixed-Income Research Poll 2019: results announced

    KangaNews is proud to reveal the results of its 2019 Fixed-Income Research Poll, in which Australian institutional investors are asked to vote for the best research providers across a range of sectors. The ninth iteration of the poll has a familiar look across most categories – consistency of performance is a hallmark of this survey – but there are still a clutch of changes at the top of specific categories.
  • Latin America to the world

    At the end of 2019, CAF – Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) will celebrate its 50th anniversary. In May, the development bank visited Australia to meet issuers and investors. As part of its global anniversary celebrations it also held a reception for its Australian dealers at Quay Restaurant in Sydney.
  • Playing tetris

    New capital requirements proposed for banks by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) are likely to have consequences well beyond the banking sector. Economics in the lending market could be set for change, which may in turn reshape the dynamics of corporate bond issuance in New Zealand.
  • Queensland delivers investment ambitions

    KangaNews speaks to Jackie Trad, the state of Queensland’s Brisbane-based treasurer, and Philip Noble, chief executive at Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC) in Brisbane, about the state’s ambitious infrastructure plan, state finances and goals on the funding side of the balance sheet. The state government is committing to substantial infrastructure investment and will be more active in capital markets as a...
  • Rates and relativity

    At face value, the Australian economy appears to be in relatively good shape with solid if unspectacular growth and low unemployment. But the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is easing already accommodative monetary conditions and there is talk of further stimulatory macroeconomic measures and even QE.
  • Staying on top

    Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank) is once again the dominant player in the 2019 KangaNews Fixed-Income Research Poll, winning six categories including the overall title. The outcome is even more impressive considering the bank’s team has gone through change at the top in the past year.
  • Sustainability to the fore as EIB’s Kangaroo commitment remains

    European Investment Bank (EIB) is one of the longest-standing and most active supranational, sovereign and agency (SSA) issuers in the Kangaroo and Kauri markets. Global issuers in Australian and New Zealand dollars have been facing some challenges in 2019. But with the support of a growing sustainability programme, EIB’s funding team says it believes Australasian markets will continue to play an important role in...
  • Sydney Airport lands Australia’s first syndicated SLL and illuminates the flightpath for others

    Participants in Australia’s first syndicated sustainability-performance-linked loan (SLL) say the product could catalyse a significant uptick in corporate engagement with environmental, social and governance (ESG)-linked funding. SLLs are becoming more prominent globally and Sydney Airport’s debut demonstrates that they can have wider applicability for corporate borrowers than other ESG debt instruments.
  • The global view

    In June, ANZ and KangaNews gathered issuers and investors from across the global market at their annual roundtable discussion in London. This year’s conversation came at a pivotal moment for market direction and in the middle of an existential debate about the nature and purpose of sustainable finance.
KangaNews issues