SYDNEY, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Australia's sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund, has provided long-term loans to three major Australian banks to ease funding pressures caused by the global credit crisis, The Australian newspaper said on Tuesday.
Westpac Banking Corp, National Australia Bank <NAB.AX> and Australian & New Zealand Banking Group have issued the Future Fund with notes with maturities of five- and 10 years, according to documents seen by the paper.
The loans were made between March and April, in the wake of the collapse of U.S. investment Bear Stearns.
Westpac and NAB issued 10-year notes while ANZ sold A$500 million ($351.6 million) of five-year notes to the fund, according to the paper.
A spokesman for the fund confirmed with The Australian it made investments in long-term funding with ANZ, NAB and Westpac.
The Future Fund was established by the Australian government in 2006 to cover public service pension liabilities, which are set to grow to about A$150 billion by 2020.
($1=A$1.38)
(Reporting by Cecile Lefort) . ng COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
Westpac Banking Corp, National Australia Bank <NAB.AX> and Australian & New Zealand Banking Group have issued the Future Fund with notes with maturities of five- and 10 years, according to documents seen by the paper.
The loans were made between March and April, in the wake of the collapse of U.S. investment Bear Stearns.
Westpac and NAB issued 10-year notes while ANZ sold A$500 million ($351.6 million) of five-year notes to the fund, according to the paper.
A spokesman for the fund confirmed with The Australian it made investments in long-term funding with ANZ, NAB and Westpac.
The Future Fund was established by the Australian government in 2006 to cover public service pension liabilities, which are set to grow to about A$150 billion by 2020.
($1=A$1.38)
(Reporting by Cecile Lefort) . ng COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.