Can mutuals seize the opportunity?
Australia’s mutual and customer-owned banks – often the forgotten sector of the local lending market – are at a critical juncture. The competitive environment presents an unprecedented growth opportunity but to take advantage many mutuals may need to overhaul their funding and capital strategies.
Base camp
The global derivatives community gathered in Hong Kong in April for the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) AGM, with interbank offered rate (IBOR) transition top of the agenda. Progress towards a new market paradigm continues to be made but the scale of a task in which cash markets have a key part to play cannot be underestimated.
APRA’s “door open” to ALAC developments
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has hinted that its plan for the forthcoming Australian loss-absorbing capacity (ALAC) regime to be funded predominantly via tier-two instruments may not be set in stone. It remains unclear what shape the final regime will take, but more options now appear to be on the table than first thought.
Shifting position spurs US dollar debut for Mineral Resources
A changing business profile, including a higher proportion of commodity-sales income, led Mineral Resources to undertake its first-ever debt capital markets transaction in the US dollar high-yield market, according to the issuer. The deal serves to reset the issuer’s capital structure better to match its long-term assets.
Structural changes opening opportunities for New Zealand nonbanks
In the wake of its latest New Zealand residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) deal, Resimac says structural changes in the local mortgage market are opening opportunities for nonbanks in prime mortgage lending and, therefore, securitisation. The issuer also says the depth and breadth of bids for its paper broadened in the new transaction.