Oceania

Barclays has made a clutch of new hires in Australia in recent months, with the latest being Duncan Hogg as its new head of M&A, as the bank looks to bolster its cross-border M&A, financing and associated risk management businesses.

Bank of Queensland plans a London roadshow from September 7 for the new issue from its REDS EHP Australian ABS shelf.

Many years after the Australian states of Victoria and South Australia privatised their electricity assets, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia are finally discussing similar moves. But the processes are fraught with political sensitivity and corporate machinations. Ben Power reports.

Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) launched its largest ever Kangaroo this week, while a trio of rare SSAs tapped the Kanga long end. And more deals in the long dated part of the curve are on the way, say niche currency bankers.

This November would mark three years since Australia’s Westpac strengthened its foray into India, with the opening of a branch in Mumbai. With an eight year presence in India under its belt, the bank is keen to develop relationships and offer more of its capabilities in trade finance, structured commodity finance and other products.

Westpac Banking Corp has completed a swift, efficient foray into the Singapore dollar market, printing Basel III tier two notes on August 4. Demand was such that the borrower was able to price the bond by late afternoon and still manage to meet its pricing and diversification goals.

HSBC has hired senior banker Scott Couzner to head its mergers & acquisitions team in Australia.

A pair of North American financial names took advantage of strong demand for shorter dated floating rate Australian dollar paper this week.

The all-important deadline of July 20 passed without incident, Greece having redeemed its debt to the ECB with the help of a bridging loan. That doesn’t mean the crisis in Greece is resolved – far from it – but it does give the market some breathing space.

Members Equity Bank priced a A$1.5bn Australian RMBS, its first of the year.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Lloyds Bank sold a quartet of private medium term notes in renminbi on Monday — and more notes in the currency could follow.

Wealth and asset management firm Northern Trust Corporation has bumped up two of its veteran employees as the company focuses on growth in Asia Pacific.