Liberty Financial, via its funding subsidiary Funding Pty Ltd, has launched a securitisation of Australian prime and non-conforming residential mortgages. This is the 22nd non-conforming RMBS transaction sponsored by Liberty Financial, totalling A$342.6 million. The two top-rated tranches - accounting for A$196 million and $106 million, respectively - were rated Aaa (sf) by Moody's. The transaction is an Australian prime and non-conforming RMBS secured by a portfolio of residential mortgage loans. A portion of the portfolio consists of loans extended to borrowers with impaired credit histories (5.8 per cent) or made on a limited documentation basis (4.1 per cent), Moody's presale report noted. The powers of the banking regulator will be "modernised" to control lending in the non-bank sector and to limit lending by region, and potentially by postcode, notes the AFR. These additions to APRA's toolkit may usher in a more targeted use of so-called "macroprudential policies" aiming to curb excessive lending in the property market by curtailing the lending on non-banks and targeting regions of the property market where lending has been deemed excessive. The Australian Office of Financial Management was able to update details of its planned issuance and buybacks of Australian Government Securities, following Tuesday night's Budget. In summary: total Treasury bonds issuance to date this financial year totals A$92 billion. Issuance in 2017-18 is expected to be around $80 billion, mostly via tenders. After accounting for maturities of $31 billion and buybacks of around $15 billion of Treasury Bonds maturing in future financial years, this represents net issuance of $34 billion. The AOFM's program of regular buybacks for Treasury Bonds shorter than those comprising the primary three year Treasury Bond futures contract basket will continue. To date $11 billion of short-dated Treasury Bonds have been repurchased during 2016 17. Issuance of Treasury Indexed Bonds to date this financial year totals $2.8 billion in face value terms.