By: Jessica Darnbrough
Bankwest has become the latest lender to launch a residential mortgage-backed bond issue.
According to a report in The Australian Financial Review, the subsidiary of CBA is currently marketing a $620 million RMBS bond deal.
The deal comes hot on the heels of the $1.1 billion transaction by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, which was priced on Wednesday.
Research conducted by Westpac shows that the Bankwest deal will take total mortgage-backed bond issuance for the year to $4.89 billion.
This compares to the $12 billion sold in 2009.
While the deals are considered by many industry commentators to be conservatively structured, Westpac’s head of asset backed research David Goodman said the amount of activity in the sector is encouraging.
“The different RMBS issues are certainly a positive step for the industry especially so for the regional banks and credit unions as the government guarantee draws to a close,” Mr Goodman said.
