CBAÆs bullish start to 2004

General manager of group funding for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), John te Wechel, oversees a funding portfolio of about A$23 billion comprising of long-term debt and hybrid capital. Nearly 80% of this paper is held by offshore investors, with an increasing number of takers located in Asia. Each year the bank launches an average of between A$4 and A$7 billion in new deals. Here te Wechel talks about CBA's fundraising plans for 2004 and a deal completed just this week.