4 March 2009: Simpson Grierson partners, Andrew Harkness and Michael Pollard are advising Auckland City Council on its offering of up to $100 million secured fixed-rate, five year bonds (with the ability to accept $50 million in oversubscriptions), to be listed on the NZX. This is the first time a local authority has applied to list retail debt products on the NZDX.

Listing the bonds required a significant number of waivers from NZX to reflect Auckland City Council's statutory basis and characteristics.  These included a waiver from the half-yearly reporting requirements, granted against the background of Auckland City Council's extensive reporting obligations under the Local Government Act. 

The offer was announced on 13 February 2009 and formally opened on 23 February.  The bonds are secured by a charge over the rates and rates revenue of the Auckland City Council and are rated AA by Standard & Poors.