Commonwealth Bank of Australia

National Australia Bank has mandated leads for the first Australian covered bond in euros for over two years. With redemptions outstripping supply this month, the NAB deal could be the beginning of a spurt of issuance.

A pair of globally systematically important banks (G-SIBs) made rare visits to niche bond markets to raise senior debt at a group level this week, including a Canadian dollar market that is enjoying its busiest year for offshore financials since 2007.

ANZ dropped into the sterling market this week in search of tier two paper, which will help it meet its total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) requirements. With the TLAC deadline fast approaching, Australian firms are expected to make use of the attractive funding conditions to ramp up their subordinated issuance.

HSBC raised A$500m ($388m) on its return to the Australian dollar bond market on Thursday, securing a "fantastic" result by offering a pick-up over local bank bonds.

Barclays returned to the Kangaroo bond market this week after being absent for two years to raise A$600m across three tranches of holding company debt. The market was split over which tranche offered the most value in pricing.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia's New Zealand subsidiary ASB Finance issued its largest covered bond on Tuesday, the first 10 year from New Zealand and the first covered bond from the country since January 2019.

Barclays is set to end a two year absence from the Kangaroo bond market this week, as it seeks up to three tranches of callable senior debt.

Rating: Aaa/AAA

Two triple-A rated supranational borrowers scored big in the Australasian bond markets on Wednesday with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank selling its first Kangaroo trade and the World Bank bringing the joint biggest ever SSA Kauri bond – equalling the record it set last year.

Demand for BPCE's latest Kangaroo note was skewed towards the preferred senior format this week, with non-preferred paper only making up A$125m ($96.0m) of the A$750m deal. The French firm was also joined in the market by Rabobank, which sold its first Aussie deal after an almost two year absence.

BPCE and Rabobank are in the market for Aussie dollar senior paper, with bankers expecting a busy April as a slew of financial issuers refinance maturing bonds.

The Bank of Montreal marked International Women’s Day with a Canadian dollar women in business bond this week — its first domestic issue off its sustainability framework.