New Zealand

Auckland Council has selected a pair of banks to arrange a roadshow for a bond denominated in either euros or sterling.

ASB Bank extended its euro curve with a tightly priced seven year. But with half the demand that was seen in the previous seven year from a New Zealand bank, its size ambition was thwarted.

ASB Bank, the fully owned subsidiary of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, extended its curve on Tuesday with a €500m seven year covered bond. But the deal received less than half the demand than ANZ New Zealand did in September despite offering a pick-up to it.

ANZ New Zealand took advantage of a slight back-up in yields and a scarcity of seven year covered bonds to issue a well oversubscribed deal on Tuesday.

ANZ New Zealand and Natixis Pfandbriefbank have mandated leads to roadshow euro denominated covered bonds.

Deutsche Bank is set to issue the third German Pfandbrief of the week after mandating leads for an ultra-long benchmark. Meanwhile, Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (PBB) has priced the fifth dollar Pfandbrief of the year.

Though there are early signs the recent rally in sterling bond spreads may be fading, ASB Finance this week became the latest bank to take advantage of very attractive funding opportunities in the currency.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has set out new proposals aimed at cooling house price inflation, which it says has become increasingly disconnected from household incomes.

MUFG Securities Asia has poached a former Westpac executive to head its asset-backed securities unit for Australia and New Zealand as the Japanese brokerage extends its international reach.

Westpac New Zealand’s €750m five year this week attracted the largest order book and was priced at the tightest ever spread for a New Zealand covered bond. Bank of New Zealand is set to follow.

Norwegian issuer SR Boligkreditt and New Zealand borrower Westpac NZ will both take new euro deals on the road before the end of May, and the UK’s TSB has confirmed covered bonds will form part of its long term funding.

Global Dairy Trade, a platform that sets prices for the global dairy market, is pushing ahead with plans to bring dairy trading up to speed with other commodity markets and which could impact currency and futures activity.