New Zealand

Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s New Zealand subsidiary, ASB Finance, has mandated leads for the first Kiwi covered bond since January 2019. At the same time, Berlin Hyp has appointed lead managers for a 12 year mortgage Pfandbrief.

New Zealand will be an important test case for mandatory reporting on climate risks. Financial firms everywhere would be wise to sit up and take notice.

Grid operator Transpower New Zealand returned to the Swissie market this week, landing through its outstanding curve while offering a small premium over Swissgrid.

The New Zealand Treasury reduced its 2020/21 funding programme by NZ$10bn ($6.75bn) to NZ$50bn on Wednesday as its economy shows signs of a quicker recovery than seemed likely after the coronavirus lockdown earlier this year.

The World Bank raised NZ$550m ($369.9m) with a rare seven-year New Zealand dollar bond, breaking the record for the largest Kauri bond at that maturity or longer.

Australia and New Zealand broke bond syndication records yet again this week, as Australia printed its largest ever deal while New Zealand scooped its largest ever order book with a seven year tap.

New Zealand began marketing a tap of its outstanding April 2027 bond on Monday as sovereigns get moving for a busy period of syndications. Finland could follow up with the first post-summer pubic sovereign bond in a core currency later this week.

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.

Australia surprised the market on Tuesday with a bumper long end deal that attracted a substantial amount of offshore interest. The deal comes just as New Zealand sets a date for its for its next syndicated deal.

While bankers in the Northern hemisphere plan well-deserved summer breaks, the Australian and New Zealand dollar markets are set to remain open for business, with some competitive pricing on offer.

Demand for Australia and New Zealand’s first syndications of their 2020-21 fiscal year was high on Tuesday, with both issuers printing their second largest ever deals.

Australia and New Zealand launched their first syndications of their 2020-21 fiscal years on Monday.