So how does issuance across the wholesale markets stack up at the end of 2008, compared with previous years? It was an abysmal year in the structured finance sector. Excluding internal securitisations by the banks and others but including warehouse deals and private placements, RMBS issuance totalled only A$9.7 billion. The record year for RMBS issuance was 2006 when a total of A$57 billion was issued. However, internal securitisations totalled just short of A$150 billion by our reckoning and, of course, this has not occurred previously.ABS issuance was a standout however. Investors were happy to look at securitised product that had nothing to do with mortgages of any sort. ABS issuance came in at A$4.7 billion, which was only just shy of the A$4.8 billion issued in 2007.As for CMBS issuance, there was none. The year 2006 was the record year for CMBS with A$4.9 billion issued.Corporate bonds totalling A$50 billion were issued here, with last week's issuance largely responsible for getting us past the 2007 total of A$42 billion. The best year was 2006 at A$62 billion, followed by 2005 at A$55 billion. In New Zealand, domestic issuance has fallen just short of 2007's record of NZ$10.2 billion, coming in at NZ$10.1 billion but there are some issues still to be priced before year end, so a new record should be set. International bond issuance by New Zealanders has also just fallen short of setting a new record but there is still time. The figure for 2008 currently stands at NZ$12.0 billion but the record was set in 2005, with a total of NZ$12.2 billion being issued offshore.As for Australian international bond issuance, 2008 has been by far and away a record-breaking year, as the banks issued massive volumes in the first half of the year to shore up their positions as credit markets rapidly deteriorated. More than the equivalent of A$91 billion of bonds were issued with A$75 billion coming from the banks. In 2006 the volume of offshore issuance reached the equivalent of A$77 billion.