Briefs: FlexiGroup not a GE bidder and other denials, Brett King joins LendEx, BOQ prices notes, and 13 February 2015 4:33PM Bernard Kellerman Briefs, Brett King has joined the advisory board of marketplace lending platform, LendEx, said David Ruddiman, the firm's CEO, yesterday. King is an influential thought leader on disruption, with several books on the topic to his credit, and is one of the founders of the Moven online bank brand in the US. Others to join the advisory board are Kim Jenkins, former CEO of Experian Australia and New Zealand, and Robert Hines, the former chief financial officer of Bank of Queensland. The biggest US prime money market fund operator, Fidelity Investments, announced last week that three of its mutual funds will stop investing in bank paper and instead only buy government securities, forcing local lenders to hunt for short-term money in more expensive funding markets, the AFR reports. Australian banks had at least $US90.7 billion of short term debt issued to taxable US money funds, including Fidelity, Vanguard, BNY Mellon and State Street, which are major investors in short term Australian bank paper with maturities of up to 12 months. Finance company FlexiGroup is not involved in the sales process to acquire GE's Australian and New Zealand consumer lending business. The company issued a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday, saying it had secured Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approval to participate in the sales process for GE but it was "not currently involved." FlexiGroup has been the subject of media speculation that it is part of a consortium bidding for GE's local assets. There is "no [sale to] Westpac", Brett McKeon, managing director of Australian Finance Group said yesterday. The Financial Review on Wednesday reported speculation that Westpac may be taking steps to make an offer for AFG, one of the largest home loan broking entities in Australia. Speculation of a sale by AFG's founders has waxed and waned for years. Bank of Queensland, rated A- by S&P and Fitch and A3 by Moody's, yesterday priced a new A$500 million 2.25-year floating rate medium term note. The notes, which were priced at par, will pay a coupon of 75 basis points over the 3 month bank bill swap rate. The joint lead managers are CBA, NAB, UBS and Westpac. The settlement date is 19 February, with the notes due for redemption on 19 May 2017. Moody's Investors Service said in a new report that Australian covered bond programs' performance remained stable during the final quarter of 2014, supported by the stable Aaa rating of the Australian sovereign, the stable financial profiles of the issuers, and the stable credit quality of the cover pool assets. Total covered bond issuance increased to A$81 billion from $77.4 billion in 2014. As at year end for 2014, a large share of covered bonds was issued in euros (36 per cent), followed by USD (34 per cent) and AUD (19 per cent).