There was significant issuance of AAA securities in the domestic market prior to the financial crisis, although these securities were credit wrapped by bond insurers. During the crisis most of these insurers were wound down following large ratings downgrades, and this segment of the market has subsequently disappeared. 4.
The publically available information indicates that not a single corporate bond with a credit rating below BBB- has been issued in the domestic market. In contrast, since 2000, around 30 bonds rated below BBB- have been issued in the offshore market by Australian corporations. 5. Recently, there has been a pick-up in both the number (and value) of BBB-rated issuers in the domestic market.