Commonwealth Bank of Australia

The Reserve Bank of Australia has announced plans to explore the potential uses and implications of a central bank digital currency using distributed ledger technology. The RBA follows the Banque de France, which last year worked with Société Générale to settle a crypto covered bond — a product that offers a number of ways to deploy blockchain technology.

While election results rolled in across the US on Wednesday, Westpac decided in Australia that it would launch a new additional tier one (AT1) deal, targeting retail and institutional investors.

Greencoat Renewables, the Irish renewable infrastructure company, has signed a €200m term loan, as it looks to manage its longer duration leverage.

United Overseas Bank achieved the tightest spread for a five year floating rate bank issue in Australian dollars in over 10 years this week, issuing A$750m ($532.0m) to prove that there is still demand at decade-low levels.

A pair of Asian banks tapped the Australian dollar bond market for a combined A$1.25bn ($880m) on Tuesday. A number of banks have visited the Aussie market in recent weeks to great success, and more are set to follow.

Woori Bank is preparing to make its Kangaroo bond debut, choosing the market to launch its first Covid-19 response bond.

Bank of Communications used its Hong Kong arm for a tightly priced dual-tranche deal on Thursday, bringing back floating rate and fixed rate combo bonds for Chinese financial credits.

Australia and New Zealand broke bond syndication records yet again this week, as Australia printed its largest ever deal while New Zealand scooped its largest ever order book with a seven year tap.

New Zealand began marketing a tap of its outstanding April 2027 bond on Monday as sovereigns get moving for a busy period of syndications. Finland could follow up with the first post-summer pubic sovereign bond in a core currency later this week.

Australia announced a bumper funding programme for 2020-21 on Thursday, almost double its previous effort. Two days earlier, the sovereign surprised the market with a long end deal that attracted a substantial amount of offshore interest.

Australia surprised the market on Tuesday with a bumper long end deal that attracted a substantial amount of offshore interest. The deal comes just as New Zealand sets a date for its for its next syndicated deal.

Australia has launched its second syndication of its 2020-21 fiscal year on Monday morning, Sydney time, extending its curve out to 2051 with a new benchmark.