Westpac

Westpac has laid out plans to sell a pair of tier two bonds in the US dollar market, just days after the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (Apra) put the asset class at the heart of its total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) framework.

The Bank of Montreal followed Toronto Dominion’s lead on Wednesday to join the Canadian bail-inable Kangaroo frenzy, placing A$750m of five year debt.

Australia’s bank capital regulator has refused to back down from requiring the country’s largest banks to meet new loss-absorbing debt targets with tier two bonds, raising the prospect of a wave of supply over the next four years. The question now is: how much will it cost them? Tyler Davies reports.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority said on Tuesday that Australia’s largest banks would have to use tier two capital to meet their requirements for loss-absorbing debt capacity. But the new targets will start off lower than previously proposed.

Following on from Barclays’ Kangaroo return last month, two more foreign banks looked towards the Australian market on Wednesday. Toronto Dominion Bank placed its inaugural bail-inable Kangaroo and BNP Paribas printed its first Australian dollar AT1 note.

Standard Chartered sailed into uncharted waters on Tuesday to make its Kangaroo debut. The bank issued A$1bn ($700m) across fixed and floating rate tranches, following Barclays' A$800m return to the currency last week.

Barclays returned to the Australian dollar market this week for its second Kangaroo, placing a triple tranche trade that was four times covered. The demand for Kangaroo paper could see more issuers follow Barclays, according to one DCM banker.

Westpac New Zealand was able to steer its first green bond through the market on Tuesday, even as yields plummeted on the back of suggestions that the European Central Bank could be preparing new stimulus measures. The deal was the issuer’s first fixed rate senior bond in euros for over nine years.

Far East Horizon has boosted its latest offshore borrowing to $1bn, attracting 10 participants during syndication.

Barclays plans to follow Crédit Agricole and Handelsbanken into the Kangaroo bond market. The UK lender mandated leads for a deal on Wednesday after the other two banks brought deals on Tuesday.

It was a g’day for Citibank on Friday, as the issuer returned to the Australian dollar market to print its largest ever Kangaroo, according to Dealogic. In recent weeks, the Aussie market has presented a good alternative for FIG issuers looking to sell senior unsecured debt.

Reliance Industries is tapping the Japanese yen market as part of a $1.5bn dual-currency loan syndication.