Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Handelsbanken is set to return to the Australian dollar market for the first time in nearly two years this week, as Aussie dollar senior paper rallies thanks to the long term absence of funding from the market's major domestic banks.

BNP Paribas and UBS opened the offshore Australian dollar FIG market for 2021 this week, with a pair of new senior deals.

Greencoat Renewables, the Irish wind farm fund, has made an acquisition of around €60m acquisition in Finland, a few months after the company sold equity to free up debt for purchases.

Global financial institutions will focus more on their home markets amid a sharp fall in funding requirements this year, leaving sterling credit investors yearning for more supply from overseas FIG issuers.

Westpac kicked off 2021’s Australian financials market on Thursday by launching a new tier two bond. Aussie borrowers are expected to focus on capital trades this year in order to meet their total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) requirements with tier two debt.

Issuers from Greater China flooded the market with dollar deals on Tuesday, capitalising on strong appetite from investors ready to put money to work in the new year.

Macquarie achieved a decade low print for a five year Australian dollar floater this week, as the lack of supply from financial issuers in 2020 has sent spreads grinding downwards.

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.