Single investor dominates Aussie banks' US five-years as issuance slows
KangaNews has learned that almost all the five-year funding done by the Australian majors in the US market since the dawn of the guaranteed era was bought by a single investor, with three of the big four tapping the market for 2014 maturity deals in January using the same lead manager.
Moody's puts Queensland on review for downgrade
Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) placed the state of Queensland (AA+/Aaa/AAA) and its funding agency, Queensland Treasury Corporation, on review for possible downgrade on February 27, following the lead of Standard & Poor’s (S&P) which downgraded both state and treasury a week earlier.ASX chief executive calls for longer-dated CGS
The chief executive of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), Robert Elstone, has called for longer-dated commonwealth government security (CGS) issuance as part of a predicted “more buoyant fixed income market in Australia over coming years”. Elstone believes investment in new energy sources and technologies will necessarily be driven by the fixed income market.Westpac is final big four issuer to price domestic benchmark
Westpac Banking Corporation (AA/Aa1) (Westpac) became the last of the Australian big four banks to bring a domestic benchmark transaction under the terms of the local sovereign guarantee on February 26 with the pricing of a A$1.925 billion (US$1.24 billion) five-year fixed and floating rate deal.
QTC downgraded but other states may dodge bullet â€" for now
Standard & Poor’s (S&P)’s decision to downgrade the state of Queensland and its funding authority, Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC), to AA+ may not be the first in a wave of downgrades to Australian semi-governments, although the rating agency acknowledges there is “only downside risk” in state revenue projections.