AMP Bank upsizes RMBS

AMP Bank announced the Progress 2023-2 Trust Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) has been upsized from $500 million to $750 million.

The bank confirmed there were 31 investors in the transaction, with around 32 per cent by number of accounts being offshore investors, and 37 per cent were real money investors.

Major bank Westpac was the arranger of the transaction along with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), NAB, MUFG, Barrenjoey, and Westpac as joint lead managers.

CFO of AMP Bank and AMP group treasurer Jason Bounassif said: “We are extremely pleased with this transaction and the support of existing and new investors that enabled the deal to be upsized from original guidance.”

Other recent RMBS transactions

AMP Bank’s upsized RMBS is the latest in RMBS-related news. Last week (7 September), the freshly merged mutual bank Heritage and People’s Choice secured its first-ever RMBS issuance, priced at $1 billion.

The mutual bank confirmed the transaction (comprised of seven tranches) was originally launched at $600 million, however, after being oversubscribed 1.9 times on the Class A note, was upsized to $1 billion.

Additionally, non-bank lender Pepper Money priced a $850 million RMBS transaction, which is set to be used to support its non-conforming mortgage business growth.

The transaction is the non-bank lender’s sixth public securitisation for 2023 and was upsized from $750 million, comprised of a mix of prime and near-prime mortgages.

History of RMBS in Australia

Speaking on Mortgage Business’ Mortgage and Finance Leader podcast, the “father of RMBS in Australia”, executive chairman of the Stargate Corporation Group, Vernon Spencer, revealed the origin story of how securitisation was developed in Australia.

In the episode, Mr Spencer reflected on how he helped establish mortgage securitisation and how he issued Australia’s first RMBS in the 1970s.

If you would like to find out more about the history of RMBS in Australia, you can click the link here to find out.

AMP reduces turnaround times

The upsized RMBS follows AMP Bank’s announcement that it has slashed turnaround times for loan increases from 15 days to just under eight days since March this year, with that number expected to drop even further through its partnership with CoreLogic.

In addition, the non-major bank has launched enhancements to a digital application process in ApplyOnline for customers seeking loan increases on their home loan.

[RELATED: How RMBS was brought to Australia]