Briefs: ING to re-purchase guaranteed bonds, HBOS report due
ING Bank Australia has launched a buyback of government guaranteed bonds. The bank will re-purchase A$1.15 billion of senior fixed-rate transferable deposits and $600 million of senior floating-rate transferable deposits. The re-purchase price for the fixed-rate notes is the asset swap less 10 basis points, and the re-purchase price for the floating-rate notes is the three-month bank bill swap rate less 10 basis points. This is in line with other recent buybacks of government guaranteed bonds. The UK Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards will release its report on HBOS on Thursday. The report will "present a case study of a failed bank with poor governance and weak credit risk controls," according to the Financial Times. The FT reported that Dennis Stevenson, chair of the bank from its creation in 2004 up to 2008; James Crosby, who was chief executive up to early 2007; and Andy Hornby, CEO for the following two years, are set to be the main focus of the report's criticism. The report may also shed some light on the bank's management of Bankwest in Australia.