Australian dollar

A quartet of SSAs borrowed a combined A$940m ($613.4m) into the Kangaroo market this week, spurring the SSA Aussie dollar market on to its best monthly volume in over nine months.

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.

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

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.

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.

The recent fall in the price of oil is having a knock-on effect on non-core currency issuance. While oil dependent markets could take a hit as their currencies weaken, some net importers could benefit from a stronger currency and safe haven flows.

A window for Kangaroo issuance opened this week, as a positive move in the Australian dollar/euro basis swap helped rouse a slumbering market that had not seen a deal for a fortnight. In spite of unstable conditions, SSAs entered the market on Monday and Tuesday, with a trio of regular borrowers tapping six lines for a combined A$575m ($364m).

Central banks across the world seem to be heading towards rate cuts, accelerated by the need to mitigate the economic effects of the Covid-19 outbreak. An unintended consequence of this is an increasing scarcity of attractive arbitrage funding opportunities for borrowers. This sort of funding, typically a perk of the best rated borrowers, will concentrate funding risk for them instead — ironically at a time when they should benefit from their safe haven status.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) outlined plans to develop and impose "vulnerability assessments", or stress tests, to evaluate the resilience of Australian banks to the effects of climate change.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China turned to the Australian debt market on Monday to raise A$500m ($336m) through its Sydney branch.

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) issued its first post-merger Kangaroo bond on Tuesday, raising A$350m ($234.9m) — becoming the first Middle Eastern bank to tap the market in two years.

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) is ready to hop into the Kangaroo market this week, having mandated a pair of banks to lead a potential five year Aussie dollar deal, offering an attractive spread.