Australia

Unlike many other banks, ANZ has had no need to draw on central bank emergency liquidity lines during the coronavirus pandemic. Its risk-weighted assets have grown but this has been offset by greater retail deposits. And, as head of funding Mostyn Kau revealed, what subordinated debt issuance it does have to do will be for regulatory reasons rather than to do with Covid-19 crisis funding.

Australia smashed its syndication record with a bumper A$19bn ($12.2bn) bond issue that attracted A$53.5bn of orders on Wednesday, while New Zealand set a record of its own as it upped its 2020-21 borrowing programme to NZ$60bn ($35.8bn).

Woolworths reopened the Australian dollar corporate market with a A$1bn ($645m) dual tranche trade on Wednesday, the first from a corporate since the end of February.

The European Investment Bank inaugurated its sustainability awareness bond (SAB) framework in Australian dollars on Tuesday, while on Wednesday NRW.Bank printed the largest SSA Kangaroo so far this year.

JP Morgan has hired Jonas Troeber as its new head of equity syndicate for Australia and New Zealand, according to an internal memo seen by GlobalCapital Asia.

Rentenbank jumped into a quiet Kangaroo market on Thursday to print its first Australian dollar bond since August 2019.

Next week’s Woolworths deal, the first Australian dollar bond from a corporate since the end of February, could be a bellwether for issuance in the market.

QBE sold $500m of additional tier one debt in the dollar market this week, as it sought to shield itself from the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Citi has named Alex Cartel as a managing director and head of investment banking for Australia and New Zealand, hiring him from Deutsche Bank.

Royal Bank of Canada on Wednesday became the fourth Canadian bank to issue an Australian dollar covered bond in April, pricing considerably tighter than its compatriots and in the largest size yet. The success the Canadians have enjoyed in Kangaroos is in stark contrast to a sterile sterling market.

Social bonds are proving to be a key part of SSAs fight against the coronavirus, with $10.6bn equivalent printed since the start of the pandemic. Having already tapped core currency markets last month, this week a pair of supranationals turned towards niche currencies to fund their response to the pandemic. With demand for the social format high, both bankers and funding officials are hopeful the new investor interest will stick around after the pandemic passes.

Bank of Montreal (BMO) on Tuesday became the third Canadian covered bond issuer to take advantage of an improvement in Aussie dollar issuance conditions following a relaxation in the Reserve Bank of Australia’s repo requirements.