Australia

Société Générale has appointed Pascal Sefrin as its group country head for Australia.

ANZ New Zealand has been informed by its regulator that it can no longer use its own internal models to calculate operational risk, leading to a 60% jump in its capital requirements in this field.

Kangaroo investors filled their pouches to the brim with a bumper World Bank tap on Wednesday. The supranational reopened its February 2024 Kangaroo to print the largest Aussie dollar tap in the SSA market since 2016.

Citi has appointed Marc Luet to be country officer for Australia and head of the bank's Australia and New Zealand cluster.

It was a g’day for Citibank on Friday, as the issuer returned to the Australian dollar market to print its largest ever Kangaroo, according to Dealogic. In recent weeks, the Aussie market has presented a good alternative for FIG issuers looking to sell senior unsecured debt.

National Australia Bank went to investors on Monday with a dual-tranche deal, looking to make use of favourable conditions in the euro market. It was the first Australian name to issue euro-denominated notes since Westpac in November 2018.

Bank of Queensland has mandated leads for a roadshow for a potential second euro conditional pass through (CPT) covered bond, and Bank of New Zealand has mandated leads for a roadshow with plans to issue a covered bond or a senior unsecured deal.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut rates for the first time since 2016 to a record low of 1.5% on Wednesday. The RBNZ Monetary Policy Committee decision was the first under its new set-up, which included three external members on the committee.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce issued its second Australian dollar deal of the year on Thursday. The senior unsecured short-term debt is not subject to Canadian bail-in regulation.

Syndicate bankers are expecting Kangaroo issuance to wane as the Japanese market shuts down this weekend for an extended holiday and Australia’s inflation outlook worsens.

If the architects behind the complicated world of bank resolution and prudential capital regulation have proved one thing, it is that the devil is not always in the detail. Sometimes labels matter more.

Dual currency high yield bonds to fund EG Group’s purchase of Woolworth’s petrol stations in Australia hit screens on Tuesday morning, the long-anticipated second slug of a financing part-placed in Australian dollars. The all-bond issue flies in the face of recent market trends, which have seen comparably-rated loans price well inside EG’s initial price thoughts.