insto - Australian financial markets

One of the more puzzling monopolies in Australia, the ASX's power to effectively regulate competition out of sight, was dismantled with a sweep of a ministerial pen, reports Bernard Kellerman.

Some finance professionals are developing ways to fund the massive costs that will be incurred if the shift to a low carbon economy is to be achieved, writes Bernard Kellerman.

Climate bonds, which are essentially infrastructure bonds tailored specifically for financing climate solutions, can help fund the transition to a lowcarbon economy. This is the view of an increasingly large number of capital markets practitioners and academics.

While many companies are reluctant to admit their potential greenhouse gas costs, the number of institutional investors seeking this information has spiked, repots Bernard Kellerman.

The Carbon Disclosure Project has evolved as the pre-eminent mechanism for communication between companies and investors on climate change and carbon exposure issues. It has been run globally for 7 years, but for the fourth year has been expanded to cover the top 200 Australian and top 50 New Zealand companies.

With yet another summit on climate change looming in December, activists are turning up the heat on Corporate Australia, as Jane Lee reports.

Climate change may become as popular as asbestos or tobacco in Australian courts as individuals start to feel its effects, says the Environmental Defender’s Office.

Kirsty Ruddock, a principal lawyer of EDO, warns that climate litigation is evolving as people become more aware of climate change.

In an economy where debt is no longer readily available, Australia’s listed companies are looking to private equity to raise new capital, reports Jane Lee.

Private investments in public equity deals, known as PIPEs, involve publicly traded companies issuing preference or ordinary shares to private equity investors at a discount to their market value. Historically they have been more popular in the United States, where such transactions are now an established industry in and of themselves; varieties of the traditional PIPE are commonly used not only to raise working capital, but also to finance growth and future acquisitions.

But changed market conditions and recent regulatory reforms are making PIPEs more attractive to investors, easier to implement, and most importantly, a more common form of financing in Australia.