Indexation skews Australian race

The race to issue Australia’s first covered bond deal took an unexpected twist today as it emerged that the frontrunner, National Australia Bank, will fall into line with the other three Australian issuers and introduce indexation into its programme. ANZ has moved to the fore, announcing that it will open books for a US benchmark deal next week – by which time NAB’s final documentation should be ready. But whether ANZ will in fact take the glory, is not assured. Commonwealth Bank of Australia could be poised to make an announcement soon.