Australia

The UK's National Grid followed up early January’s well-received green bond debut with a pair of green bond MTNs from a subsidiary, printing in currencies it rarely visits.

Two supranationals hopped into the Kangaroo market with environmental, social governance (ESG) bond taps this week, in a move that is becoming increasingly popular. With a local holiday this weekend marking the end of antipodean summer, bankers expect Australian dollar issuance to restart in the next few weeks.

Macquarie Group has appointed Charles Yonts as head of Asian ESG research, a newly created position.

Resolute Mining, the Australian gold miner, has raised A$196m (£103m) via a transcontinental capital increase to repay a bridge loan used to fund its acquisition of Toro Gold in August last year.

The first Kangaroo deals of 2020 from SSAs started trickling through this week, after ANZ blew the doors off the Australian dollar market with a A$3.5bn ($2.4bn) self-led domestic deal on Tuesday.

I love a good story about the days gone by. I remember when liquid lunches were not just accepted but encouraged. My best ideas often came after downing martinis over a long lunch. But a recent story from Australia makes my wild days of boozy work meals look quite tame.

Danakali, an Australian potash company, has raised a $200m credit facility from African lenders. Proceeds of the syndicated facility will go towards funding the planned Colluli potash project in Eritrea.

For public sector issuers, niche currency deals have offered attractive opportunities for arbitrage funding, with spreads into euros and dollars spurring on demand this year. Meanwhile, strong investor appetite for green paper has seen niche shoots blossom throughout 2019. Frank Jackman reports

Taiwanese banks are increasingly getting sign-offs for larger commitments for loans from southeast Asia, India and Australia, as well as for lower priced deals and longer tenor transactions from these regions. This is as Taiwan’s lenders continue to step away from Chinese borrowers, writes Pan Yue.

In its first visit to the capital markets, VisionFund International, a subsidiary of World Vision, the Christian mission focussed children’s charity and non-profit organisation, accessed a competitive method of funding that will help it “to penetrate deeper into rural areas” and benefit those in greatest need.

Ford Motor Credit Company mandated banks on Tuesday to lead a new Australian dollar deal, its first since 2016.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) launched a new sustainable tier two on Friday. Looking to broaden its investor universe in the euro market and enlarge its tier two buffer after changes in Australian regulation, ANZ’s deal attracted orders of 2.5 times its €1bn size.