Investec upsizes and prices A$450 million guaranteed 2014
Investec Bank Australia (Investec) (Baa2/BBB) increased the size of the Australian government-guaranteed five-year transaction it priced on November 27, eventually selling A$450 million (US$407.66 million) of fixed rate notes rather than the A$250 million indicative size at launch the day before. Investec has now issued A$1.05 billion in the Australian market in 2009, all under guarantee.Favourable basis not enough to maintain Kangaroo flood
Despite a five-year basis swap in historically wide territory issuance in the Kangaroo market has slowed to a near standstill, with the 2019 maturity issued by KfW Bankengruppe (KFW) (AAA/Aaa/AAA) on November 26 being the first primary activity in the Kangaroo space since November 17. And while the current basis is favourable for offshore issuers, intermediaries say there are several factors – including continued volatility in the basis itself – constraining further activity.
New S&P risk capital framework challenges role of hybrids
A comparison of 45 major global banks under Standard & Poor's (S&P)'s new risk-adjusted capital framework (RACF), published on November 23, ascribes to most – including the three Australian firms analysed – RAC numbers significantly lower than their published tier one ratios. S&P says the new assessment "illustrates our existing opinion that capital remains a neutral to negative rating factor for the majority of banks in our sample".