Westpac second to use NZ guarantee

Westpac New Zealand became the second bank to issue under a New Zealand government guarantee in that market, last week. Westpac raised NZ$350 million for five years at 60 basis points over swap. read more

Vale CIT

CIT Group Inc., remained at the centre of attention in financial markets last week. At first, it appeared that it would be rescued by the FDIC with a guarantee of its debt, but on Thursday the news br.. read more

BAB's okay

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank's exposure to investors in the collapsed MIS company, Great Southern Limited, has been the subject of much comment in the media. Fitch took the step of affirming the 'BBB+/F2.. read more

More upgrades and affirmations

As flagged in early June, when S&P placed Mirvac Group's credit ratings on CreditWatch with positive implications, it resolved the CreditWatch last week and moved the ratings up a notch to 'BBB/A-.. read more

Credit spreads moving wider again

With the end of the first half of the year out of the way, the major banks returned to bond issuance activity with vigour: none more so than Commonwealth Bank, which has about a A$30 billion funding t.. read more

No margin for Heritage

Heritage Building Society indicated that it is no longer going to bother with mortgage-backed securities as a source of funding and will rely on the corporate bond market instead. read more

AOFM returns

The Australian Office of Financial Management returned from being AWOL last week and held its now customary bond tenders on Wednesday and Friday. The two bonds offered were relatively short dated and.. read more