Following the winding-up of the Reserve Bank’s term funding facility at the end of June, the big banks have become active in the capital markets again.
Last week Westpac completed the bookbuild for a capital notes issue and Commonwealth Bank issued subordinated debt.
The margin on Westpac Capital Notes 8 was set at 290 basis points and the bank will raise around A$1.45 billion. The notes have a first call date of September 2029.
Earlier this month, Macquarie Bank completed a hybrid issue, Macquarie Bank Capital Notes 3, raising $500 million at a margin of 290 bps and a first call date of September 2028.
Commonwealth Bank issued $1.5 billion of floating-rate subordinated debt, paying a margin of 132 bps over the bank bill swap rate and with a first redemption date of August 2026.
Yes, money really is free and CommBank, to its eternal disgrace will not be lending much of this out.