Briefs: FirstMac calls 2005 bond and APRA mulls OTC rules

FirstMac says it has repaid outstanding bonds from a series of bonds sold in early 2005. It made the payment yesterday. FirstMac said, in a media release, that this followed "its stated policy to call transactions at the 10 per cent level." FirstMac has already refinanced some of the remaining assets through a new issue priced at the end of last week.

Over-the-counter derivatives will be more capital-intensive and there may be improved price transparency in relation to OTC derivatives, Warren Scott, general counsel for the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority, told the NSW Supreme Court corporate law conference this week. "The conduct of investment banking activities involving balance sheet exposure will be relatively less attractive for prudentially regulated entities due to the significantly higher capital requirements associated with such activities," Scott said. The Financial Review reported on Scott's talk.