AUSTRALIA HAS LONG entertained an on-off relationship with Asia. Wander around the neat streets of downtown Sydney and it is easy to assume that you must be somewhere near the region: Asians already account for a significant proportion of laid-back Sydneysiders and evidence of their growing influence is everywhere.
Despite this apparent connection to Asia, Australia's track record in capturing opportunities thrown up by the world's fastest-growing economic region has been patchy. In its debt capital markets, success has been almost non-existent. Australian dollar issues from foreign borrowers, termed kangaroos, feature few Asian names. In the past five years there have been just six by genuine Asian issuers, raising US$1.2 billion equivalent. And four of those came from the Asian Development Bank.
Compare that with the US$85 billion raised from nearly 850 kangaroo issues by US and European issuers over the same period and the scale...
