National Australia Bank

Finland’s Municipality Finance returned to the domestic New Zealand dollar bond market on Friday after a long absence, to raise its largest Kauri bond since 2008.

Two recent policy changes from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) spurred a pair of foreign banks to scoop A$3.2bn ($2.2bn) from the bond market this week. An expansion of repo-eligibility and a term funding facility for domestic banks have freed up the funds to drive the bumper deals, according to a banker at one of Australia's big four banks.

A pair of foreign banks mandated senior unsecured Australian dollar transactions on Monday: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp is out with initial price thoughts through its Sydney branch, while the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is preparing a Kangaroo benchmark.

The International Finance Corp returned to the Australian dollar bond market to fund its response to the coronavirus pandemic on Monday, while at the end of last week BNG capped the strongest month for SSA Kangaroo deals for over nine months.

Banks are bounding back into the Kangaroo market. On Wednesday, BNP Paribas jumped in to sell the first syndicated Australian dollar senior non-preferred deal since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, later that day the Bank of Nova Scotia announced plans to join the fray with a mandate for a three year bail-inable deal.

A pair of French banks visited the five year point of the Kangaroo curve on Tuesday. BPCE raised A$650m of senior preferred paper, while BNP Paribas mandated for a senior non-preferred deal.

A quartet of SSAs borrowed a combined A$940m ($613.4m) into the Kangaroo market this week, spurring the SSA Aussie dollar market on to its best monthly volume in over nine months.

Woolworths reopened the Australian dollar corporate market with a A$1bn ($645m) dual tranche trade on Wednesday, the first from a corporate since the end of February.

The European Investment Bank inaugurated its sustainability awareness bond (SAB) framework in Australian dollars on Tuesday, while on Wednesday NRW.Bank printed the largest SSA Kangaroo so far this year.

Next week’s Woolworths deal, the first Australian dollar bond from a corporate since the end of February, could be a bellwether for issuance in the market.

Sydney Airport has become the first borrower to issue a sustainability-linked US private placement.

Bank of America signalled the last hurrah of post-earnings supply by Wall Street heavyweights when it hit the market on Monday with a $5bn bond.