Australia

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.

Toronto-Dominion Bank launched the first Australian dollar covered bond of the year on Thursday night, issuing in good size at a similar spread to where it recently issued its dollar covered bond.

Credit Suisse has appointed Mark Carlile as vice-chairman of investment banking and capital markets for Australia, and Angelo Scasserra as co-head of the division.

Schroders has appointed new heads for Asia Pacific, tapping Chris Durack and Susan Soh to the top job.

Asia’s sustainability-linked loan market has expanded further with a real estate investment trust raising funds linked to the global real estate sustainability benchmark (GRESB), a first for the region.