(25 May 2004 – Australia) ING’s Australian banking operation is set to issue a five year Transferable Deposit of about A$500 million, according to joint lead managers Commonwealth Bank and National Australian Bank.ANZ Investment Bank and UBS AG are co-managers for the issue.
The banks said the issue would be settled by the end of the week and that there would be two tranches comprising a $150 million minimum fixed rate tranche and a $350 million minimum floating rate tranche.
The Transferable Deposits will be rated AA- stable by Standard & Poor’s.
In further news, S&P has placed ING’s Australian Equities funds ‘Under Review.’
S&P said the action resulted from organisational changes at ING Investment Management, particularly the announcement that head of Australian Equities, John Morgan, had left ING.
S&P will meet with ING later this month to discuss the review.