Australian dollar

Asian Development Bank printed the largest SSA kangaroo benchmark of the year on Tuesday, taking advantage of a brief issuance window and capitalising on expectations of the start of quantitative easing in Australia.

Singapore’s United Overseas Bank issued a A$500m ($362.2m) bond in Australia on Friday, as a lack of financial paper in the market drove investor demand.

Woori Bank is set to make its Kangaroo bond debut, seeking to tap the Australian dollar market to fund its coronavirus response.

Singapore’s DBS Bank ventured into the Kangaroo market on Wednesday in search of tier two debt. Though Australian dollar tier two volumes have remained stable year on year, there is a marked decline in offshore issuance so far in 2020.

International Finance Corp sold the first Kauri bond in more than two months on Thursday, while in the Kangaroo market a pair of European agencies tapped a pocket of demand further down the curve.

Korea Expressway Corp made its debut in the Kangaroo market this week, taking A$450m ($324.6m) from a dual tranche deal.

BNP Paribas has issued a series of green medium-term notes linked to the performance of the new Australian Climate Transition Index (ACT), which is made up of companies expected to thrive in the transition to keep global warming below 2°C.

The case of O’Donnell versus the Australian Commonwealth, if successful, could force all issuers seeking to make use of the Australian bond market to make thorough disclosures of their climate strategy.

Australia announced a bumper funding programme for 2020-21 on Thursday, almost double its previous effort. Two days earlier, the sovereign surprised the market with a long end deal that attracted a substantial amount of offshore interest.

The International Finance Corporation sold the first SSA Kangaroo deal in over three weeks on Thursday, returning to the market with a A$100m ($71.9m) 11 year bond.

UBS raised A$2.75bn ($1.96bn) with a triple tranche senior unsecured deal through its Australian branch on Thursday, printing the largest ever Australian dollar bank deal for a foreign issuer.

In a world first this week, 23-year-old student and Australian retail government bond investor Katta O’Donnell filed a legal challenge against the sovereign on Wednesday, claiming that the government does not do enough to disclose the risks of climate change to investors. If successful, the case could change issuers’ obligations regarding climate risk disclosure.