DBS makes local corporate bond market debut, while Westpac prices green bond
Singapore's DBS Bank made its debut in the local domestic corporate bond market yesterday, with a A$750 million covered bond issue.The bank is rated AA- by Standard & Poor's and would be familiar to many investors due to both its close proximity and its history as a former potential merger partner for Westpac back in the 1990s.The covered bond issue was rated AAA, which would also contribute to investor demand, along with the modest issuance volumes seen in the corporate bond market so far this year. The three-year floating rate notes were priced at 77 basis points over the 90-day bank bill rate. The pricing compares well with the 110 bps paid by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce when it issued five year FRNs in April.Westpac (rated AA-) also priced a A$500 million climate bond issue yesterday, along with $1.8 billion of non-climate floating rate notes.Both sets of notes have five-year terms and were priced at exactly the same margin of 117 bps over bank bill swap rates, demonstrating once more that bond investors are unwilling to pay a premium for climate or green bonds.