BFCSA Blog

  This is an interesting historical article on perceptions about Australian RMBS. It certainly pays to be informed about risk in the marketplace.   by Hardeep Dhillon     In terms of collateral, the Australian residential mortgage-backed securities market has performed better than its peers for several years, thanks mainly to its blemishless default history. After a post-crisis slump, a revival of domestic issuance is under way; but it could take much longer for cross-border transactions to follow.   The peak came in February 2007 with the A$7 billion ($5.5 billion at time of issue) multi-currency transaction by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, via its Medallion programme. As well as being the largest RMBS by an Aussie borrower, the deal set a new pricing benchmark, with the most senior US dollar-denominated notes offering a pick-up of just 4 basis points over Libor. Around that time, spreads on deals from the three other banks...