Australian banks raised almost A$6.0 billion in international debt markets last week, most of it in the US s144A market and none of it guaranteed by the Commonwealth government. It has been a long time since this last happened, perhaps as long ago as early January 2008.Total offshore issuance for the month of July 2009 equates to more than A$19 billion, the third largest month on record, but critically it takes total issuance for the year to date to more than A$101 billion, well ahead of total issuance in 2008 of A$95 billion. And this was a record.Clearly 2009 is going to be another record breaking year with rolling twelve month debt issuance now at A$126 billion. The Australian banks continue to account for more than 80 per cent of the issuance for the year to date and Commonwealth Bank was the most active last week, with issues including US$1.0 billion of 13-month extendible commercial paper and €1.0 billion of ten-year subordinated debt. CBA's extendible CP issue was priced at Libor flat for the first 13 months but rises to Libor plus 30 basis points, with a final maturity of August 2014. Commonwealth's lower Tier II subordinated debt issue was priced at Libor plus 190 bps for a bullet maturity. This is the first such subordinated debt issue by one of the major banks since National Australia Bank raised €500 million in June last year. That NAB issue also had a ten-year bullet maturity and was priced at a very similar mid-swaps plus 185 bps. The CBA last week also sold a A$100 million, four-year, EMTN.Westpac was quick to follow CBA with an almost identical extendible CP issue. The size of the issue and the pricing was the same but the final maturity date is 28 July 2015 with a call date one year earlier.Macquarie Group (rated A-) also visited the US s144A market and raised a heavily oversubscribed US$1.0 billion for five years. While the pricing came in tighter than originally indicated, it looks very attractive at 475 bps over US Treasuries. Other offshore issuance came from ANZ and the Australian branch of Rabobank. The former raised US$200 million for two years at Libor plus 60 bps and US$100 million for one year in the US s144a market at Libor flat. The latter added A$100 million to its July 2012 EMTN line, opened two weeks earlier, to take outstandings to A$275 million.