The Australian branch of BNP Paribas (rated 'AA') started the week issuing A$1.0 billion of three-year bonds in two tranches: A$350 million fixed and priced at 145 basis points over swap and 192 bps over CGS; and A$650 million floating at 145 bps over bank bills. Banque Nationale de Paris, as it was known at the time, was a pioneer of the domestic market, having last issued before the turn of the century.International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank, also issued early in the week, raising A$750 million for five years at 60 bps over swap and CGS+103 bps. ING Bank (Australia) (rated 'AA') upped the pace mid-week with a A$2.0 billion issue of five-year, government-guaranteed, bonds. The A$1.2 billion floating rate tranche and the A$800 million fixed rate tranche priced at 65 bps over bank bills/swap.This is the first five-year bank debt issued since Westpac raised A$1.925 billion in late February, with a government guarantee, priced at 70 bps over bank bills/swap.National Australia Bank added a further A$1.3 billion to its non-guaranteed May 2012 line on Thursday. With the A$820 million floating rate tranche and the A$480 million fixed rate tranche priced at 115 bps over bank bills/swap, nab demonstrated that spreads on three-year major bank issuance have indeed contracted from the 130 bps originally paid.Allowing for the 70 bps government guarantee fee, nab's top-up suggests that three-year government-guaranteed bond issuance by the major banks would now price around 45 bps over bank bills/swap in the domestic market. This appears to be confirmed by the pricing on the Commonwealth Bank's US$2.5 billion, government-guaranteed five-year bond issue in the US s144A market, on Thursday night. The US$1.5 billion floating rate tranche priced at Libor plus 50 bps. Add say, 15 bps for the basis swap back to Australian dollars, and this would put the cost of five-year issuance in the domestic market at 65 bps for the major banks now. While nab practically completed issuance for the week, Volkswagen Financial Services Australia (rated 'A-') issued A$100 million of two-year bonds on Friday. The bonds were priced at 285 bps over swap. The issue follows Volkswagen's 'non-deal roadshow' meeting with investors a few weeks back.