COUNTRY REPORT
Australia 18 Cambodia 19 China 19 Hong Kong 28 India 29 Indonesia 31 Japan 33 Laos 33
Malaysia 34 New Zealand 34 Philippines 34 Singapore 35 South Korea 38 Taiwan 38 Thailand 39AUSTRALIA
DEBT CAPITAL MARKETS
› WESTPAC EXTENDS MATURITY PROFILE
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION (Aa3/AA–/AA–)
raised US$2.5bn from last Wednesday’s
three-part offering of SEC-registered senior
unsecured notes.
It sold US$1bn 2.65% three-year and
US$1bn 3.4% 10-year fixed-rate bonds at
52bp and 87bp wide of Treasuries, well
inside 65bp area and 100bp area initial
price thoughts, respectively. A US$500m
three-year floating-rate note was printed at
three-month Libor plus 34bp.
The Aussie major bank took advantage
of the positive market backdrop and flat
US yield curve to lock in low rates and
extend its maturity profile with a large 10-
year print.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch , Goldman
Sachs , Morgan Stanley and the issuer’s own
syndication desk were joint bookrunners
on the trade, which drew a combined order
book of US$5bn.
The three-year and 10-year notes paid
4bp new-issue concessions versus Westpac’s
2.7% August 2026s, while the three-year
fixed came 1bp tighter than National
Australia Bank’s 53bp Treasury spread
for its US$900m 2.5% three-year issued on
January 8.
› WESTPAC PRINTS 30-YEAR T
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION broke new ground
with last Wednesday’s A$160m (US$108m)
5.0% 30-year bullet Tier 2 EMTN issue, which
locked in low rates for subordinated paper in
the issuer’s own currency.
The catalyst for the trade was the
strong Asian demand for Commonwealth
Bank of Australia’s blowout US$1.25bn
4.326% 30-year bullet 144A/Reg S T2 on
January 3, the first such public offering
out of the Asia Pacific region.
The Westpac note was launched at
a minimum issue size of A$100m and
was subsequently increased to A$160m
with Asian life insurers dominating
allocations.
The note, which was marketed on the
strength of its 5.0% coupon, theoretically
priced at around 185bp over BBSW. This
compares with the CBA 30-year T2, which
would have swapped back into Australian
dollars about 230bp wide of BBSW, though
the US market obviously has huge depth
advantages as evident in CBA’s whopping
US$3.8bn order book.
TD Securities and the issuer’s own
syndication team were joint lead managers
on the trade, with expected ratings of Baa1/
BBB (Moody’s/S&P).› BEN BANK RAISES A$500MBENDIGO & ADELAIDE BANK (A3/BBB+/A–) raised
A$500m from last Tuesday’s dual-tranche
five-year senior unsecured bond offering
via joint lead managers ANZ , CBA , NAB and
Westpac.
A A$350m floating-rate note priced
inside 110bp area guidance at three-month
BBSW plus 105bp, while a A$150m 3.5%
January 25 2023 priced at 99.966 for a
yield of 3.5075%, 105bp wide of asset
swaps.
The first non-major bank issuance of
2018 came 28bp wide of the 77bp margin
that ANZ (Aa3/AA–/AA–) paid for its A$1.8bn
fixed-rate bond and floating-rate five-year
notes a week earlier.› RBC SYDNEY BACK FOR MOREThe ROYAL BANK OF CANADA , acting through
its Sydney branch, rated Aa3/AA–
(Moody’s/S&P), priced a US$300m one-year
floating-rate note last Monday at three-
month BBSW plus 30bp, in line with
guidance.
RBC Capital Markets was sole lead
manager on the offering.
On November 23, Royal Bank of Canada,
Sydney, sold A$275m of self-led one-year
floaters, also priced 30bp wide of three-
month BBSW.› DEUTSCHE SELLS NON-PREF NOTESDEUTSCHE BANK , Sydney branch, raised
A$450m from last Thursday’s dual-tranche
offering of five-year senior non-preferred
notes with expected ratings of Baa2/BBB–/
BBB+.
The German bank priced A$200m of
floating-rate notes 140bp wide of three
month BBSW and A$250m of 3.75% January
30 2023 at 99.246 for a yield of 3.9175%,
140bp over asset swaps.
Senior non-preferred notes count
towards total loss-absorbing capacity and
rank below old-style senior unsecured notes
in the event of insolvency.ANZ , CBA , NAB , Westpac and the issuer’s
own syndication team were joint lead
managers.› RABOBANK MATCHES MAJOR MARGINRABOBANK , Australia branch (Aa2/A+/AA–),
raised A$500m from last Friday’s five-year
senior unsecured note offering with CBA ,
NAB and UBS as joint lead managers.
A A$350m floating-rate note priced
inside 82bp area guidance at three-month
BBSW plus 77bp, matching the margin for
the A$1.325bn five-year FRN that similarly
rated Aussie major bank ANZ (Aa3/AA–/
AA–) issued on January 9.
The Rabobank A$150m 3.25% January 25
2023s priced at 99.748 for a yield of 3.305%,
77bp wide of asset swaps and 80.2bp over
the April 2023 ACGB.› CBA TO PRINT 5.25-YEAR BENCHMARKCOMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA (Aa3/AA–/
AA–) plans to price a self-led Australian
dollar 5.25-year benchmark senior
unsecured bond offering in the week
beginning January 22.› CSG READIES AUSSIE TLACCREDIT SUISSE GROUP (Baa2/BBB+/A–) has
mandated CBA , NAB and its own syndication
team for investor meetings in Australia and
Asia, starting on January 29, for a potential
TLAC-eligible Australian dollar issue.
Last October, Credit Suisse Group raised
¥57bn (US$506m) from triple-tranche
senior callable bonds for TLAC purposes,
becoming the first foreign bank to issue
yen callable TLAC-eligible paper.› FIVE AGENCIES RAISE A$600MFive European government-guaranteed
agencies accessed the Kangaroo 10-year
segment last week, raising a combined
A$600m from new issues and taps of
existing bonds.
On Tuesday Dutch lender BANK
NEDERLANDSE GEMEENTEN (Aaa/AAA/AA+)
tapped its 3.30% July 17 2028s for A$80m
to increase the issue size to A$280m.
Deutsche Bank , Nomura and RBC Capital
Markets were joint lead managers on the
reopening that priced at 98.645 for a yield
of 3.455%, equivalent to 63bp over asset
swaps and 69.25bp wide of the May 2028
ACGB.
On the same day Norway’s Triple A rated