National Australia Bank’s focus on corporate bonds, bank capital and securitisation paid dividends in 2015 as the Australasian debt markets continued to expand beyond their traditional bank-dominated core.
NAB was at the forefront of key developments during IFR’s review period, combining its focus on higher-margin business with its deep corporate relationships to deliver a range of innovative deals across the Australian fixed-income arena.
All told, NAB was on 82 Australian dollar transactions, including securitisations, but excluding self-led, just shy of the top spot, placing well in excess of A$15bn (US$10.7bn) for a 14% share of the Australian dollar market.
Steve Lambert, executive general manager, capital financing, emphasised the breadth of NAB’s business and the quality of its longstanding workforce.
“We have invested in quality people and seen little worker turnover, which has helped us build strong client relationships and enabled us to take advantage of rising Asian and domestic middle-market demand for Australian dollar paper,” said Lambert.
Notably, NAB was prominent in the expanding regulatory capital market, where it helped Rabobank sell the first Basel III-compliant Tier 2 Kangaroo in a well-received A$700m 10-year non-call five trade.
NAB has become the go-to bank in this evolving sector, having been a joint lead on almost every landmark Basel III-compliant ticket. This includes Australia’s first write-off-only T2 deal for unlisted mutual lender Heritage Bank, the country’s first Additional Tier 1 issue in the wholesale market for AMP, the first wholesale T2 deal for Bendigo Bank, and Australia’s first sub-investment-grade T2 offering for Tasmania’s MyState.
Reinforcing its long-established pre-eminence in the growing corporate bond sector, NAB worked on most of the big domestic trades, including BHP Billiton’s record-equalling A$1bn five-year corporate deal, Wesfarmers’ and Telstra’s A$500m sales, as well as the first retail offering under revamped simple disclosure rules, a five-year trade for Australia Unity.
Among NAB’s highlights in the financial segment were co-leading Macquarie Bank’s A$1.5bn five-year issuance, as well as A$1bn-plus offerings from the Sydney branches of Royal Bank of Canada, Credit Suisse and Bank of China.
NAB maintained its lead in structured finance, having been on more securitisations than any of its peers for a 25% market share.
NAB also underlined its commitment to innovation with the first domestic Green bond from an Australian issuer, a self-led 4.0% A$300m seven-year medium-term note sold on December 4 2014.
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