Online articles

  • Back on the block

    Credit-wrapped bonds were relatively common in Australia before the financial crisis but have virtually disappeared since. Assured Guaranty has a revived business model, an Australian cooperation agreement with independent arranger and adviser DTW Capital Solutions as exclusive origination consultant, and proof of concept in local deals. The firm believes it has a new value proposition for Australian borrowers.
  • Bringing sustainability transition finance into the debt-market mainstream

    Green, social and sustainability (GSS) bonds opened the door to a more active sustainable debt market in Australia. But they are only the first step. In a roundtable hosted by ANZ and KangaNews in September, credit-market participants looked at the full scope of potential growth in the sustainable-debt universe, including the role of new products in the loan and bond space, and the end goals of...
  • Corporate borrowers intentions survey: the stimulation game

    Corporate treasurers in Australia and New Zealand clearly believe their local economies are in downturn mode and expect further monetary easing, according to the sixth annual KangaNews-Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) Corporate Borrowers Intentions Survey. Cheap money may be having some impact on corporates’ desire to borrow, but probably only at the margin.
  • Deal execution: fortune favours the brave

    The process of deal execution, like so many others in contemporary capital markets, has been reshaped by regulation. In a world where banks have less facility to provide transaction information to investors, L-Bank is taking all available steps to bridge the gap itself – with positive connotations for investor response and deal outcomes.
  • Diverse Australian dollar options open to global FIs

    Declining interest rates and the global hunt for yield has opened pricing opportunities for offshore financial institutions (FIs) to issue Australian dollar additional tier-one (AT1) instruments for the first time in more than a decade. UBS Group (UBS), BNP Paribas and Societe Generale have all printed AT1 deals in Australian dollars since July.
  • Fixed-income investor survey: downtempo notes

    The H2 2019 iteration of the Fitch Ratings (Fitch)-KangaNews Australian Fixed-Income Investor Survey suggests asset managers have a relatively negative outlook on the Australian economy. Geopolitical risk is top of the agenda, while investors anticipate further monetary stimulus and a weak operating environment for local business.
  • Fuel but no fire

    The European Central Bank (ECB) confirmed another round of QE on 12 September, locking in what markets have been anticipating throughout 2019. The European political, economic and central-bank landscape is shifting but unconventional monetary policy seems set for the foreseeable future – despite questions about its efficacy in the real economy.
  • GSS issuance and the growth of qualifying assets

    Corporate balance sheets are more suited to funding based on sustainability scoring than the use-of-proceeds approach taken by green, social and sustainability (GSS) bonds. In theory, there is no reason why financing supported by the principles of sustainability-linked loans (SLLs) could not also be available in bond format.
  • Issuer Japan perspectives: BNG

    Japanese investor participation has supported the long-end Kangaroo market for supranational, sovereign and agency issuers in recent years. Deal flow has been more focused on mid-curve issuance in 2019. However, Bart van Dooren, head of funding and investor relations at BNG Bank (BNG) in The Hague, says long-end opportunities persist and bespoke private placements (PPs) can still be compelling opportunities for...
  • Issuer Japan perspectives: Westpac

    Japanese investors have come to represent a significant portion of Australian major-bank transaction books across currencies and products. Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac)’s Sydney-based head of group funding, Alex Bischoff, discusses the bank’s evolving relationship with this investor base.
  • Kiwi issuer provides a spark for 10-year Australian dollar corporate supply

    Spark Finance (Spark) returned to the Australian dollar market on 11 September with its first deal since its inaugural Kangaroo in October 2017. Deal sources say there is latent demand in Australian dollars resulting from an undersupply of corporate credit, while the lower-for-longer interest rate environment is pushing demand further out on the curve.
  • MUFG Group’s green light for Australia

    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.
  • New Zealand economy seeks traction

    The fallout from and possible escalation of the ongoing US-China trade war and the global lowering of rates pose significant risks to the New Zealand economy, as they do to so many others. Domestic data have yet to take a drastic downward direction but that has not stopped a generally negative outlook.
  • New Zealand looks forward

    The seventh annual KangaNews New Zealand DCM Summit took place in Auckland on 22 August at a fascinating juncture for the local debt market. Discussion focused on forthcoming changes to bank-capital requirements and the finalisation of a bank securitisation regime locally, the global context of trade wars, the low interest-rate environment and major capital-market upheaval.
  • Pacific National deal shows encouraging signs for domestic market

    Pacific National printed Australia’s largest 10-year corporate bond so far this year and the issuer’s largest in the domestic market on 18 September. Deal sources say the transaction makes clear once again that domestic support for 10-year corporate paper is available for issuers willing to test it.
  • The impact of IBOR replacement on Australian end users

    Corporate borrowers are, in the main, in the earliest stages of getting to grips with the consequences of global interbank offered rate (IBOR) transition. Chatham Financial (Chatham)’s Australian team explains the key issues and why planning a response is increasingly important.
  • The Japanese bid in a Japanified world

    Japanese investors have been among the biggest supporters of Australian dollar and Australian-origin issuance in the rates, credit and structured-finance markets. In their annual roundtable, conducted in Tokyo in September, KangaNews and Mizuho Securities (Mizuho) found the Japanese buyer base is still supportive of Australian issuance but declining yield is a tough hurdle to overcome.
  • The usual suspect

    The intention of rate cuts is to stimulate confidence, spending and investment – and thus economic growth. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has now fired virtually all its bullets, but the early signs are that the only significant impact may be to refuel the housing boom.
KangaNews issues