insto - Australian financial markets

The ABS markets have been dormant for a year, cutting off funding to niche lenders. But were obituaries for Australia’s non-bank mortgage originators written prematurely, asks Lachlan Colquhoun.

Several September deals have encouraged issuers and also investors to think there is life in the assetbacked securitisation markets yet. These may be only stirrings, but among issuers at least there is a consensus that the next 12 months will be an improvement on the last period of darkness.

Global response, local reaction

In early July, Insto magazine and Mallesons hosted a roundtable on future financial markets regulation, with participation from a wide-cross section of the industry.

***Moody's downgrades Citi’s Australian operations (4 March 2009)***

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Citigroup Pty Ltd's long-term deposit and senior debt ratings to A2 from A1. The downgrade of Citigroup Pty Ltd's long-term ratings follows Moody's downgrade of the bank's US parent on 27 February 2009.

Citigroup Pty Ltd is the Australian retail banking subsidiary of Citigroup Inc. It reported total assets of AUD 18 billion at FYE 2007.