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Banks’ drive to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their strategies and day-to-day operations is accompanied by a desire to help their customers’ ESG journeys. For the most part, this means facilitating transition rather than outright divestment.
Australian banks say the biggest limitation on their ability to issue green, social and sustainability (GSS) bonds is the scale of suitable assets on their balance sheets. In this context, deploying assets in the most productive areas is key.
In September 2019, ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) returned to its issuance of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)-linked bonds with a euro tier-two deal. There is also a bid for subordinated labelled deals in Australian dollars, as evidenced by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG)’s green tier-two bond priced the same month.
Dovish moves dominated central-bank activity in 2019. The market consensus is that cash rates will remain low for the foreseeable future, supporting financial institution (FI) issuance but potentially putting pressure on bank margins.
Climate change presents a physical, as well as a financial risk to many pieces of critical infrastructure. Investors need to be able to measure these risks to make capital-allocation decisions. This can be difficult, considering the sometimes-distant horizon of climate predictions.
Disclosure and transparency are fundamental pillars of a legitimate and measurable market for environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related financing. As more Australian companies commit to transition pathways, the challenge will be in measuring sustainability performance and implementing reporting that meets investor requirements.
On Friday 15 November 2019, The Palladium at Crown in Melbourne provided the perfect backdrop for The Enchanted Ball - an annual event held to raise funds for life-changing medical research on behalf of the Financial Markets Foundation for Children. KangaNews was a diamond sponsor.
QE has been deployed in multiple jurisdictions around the world, in a multitude of formats. Before discussing its use in Australia, panellists gave their definitions of the term and what the necessary conditions might be for its use in Australia.
There are some similarities between 2006 and 2019, including a growing sense that the end of a cycle may be imminent and asset prices are probably overextended. As this review of talking points from the 2006 roundtable shows, however, more has changed than remains the same.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) have both substantially raised the capital requirements of the four major banks in their jurisdictions.
From the beginning, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has been unapologetic in its ambition to safeguard New Zealand depositors and taxpayers from a future financial crisis.
There has been shifting dynamics in inbound and outbound financial institution issuance flow in the Australian market in 2019, largely due to regulatory changes and monetary policy moves.