I found this quite interesting as well.
Not familiar with these notes, but attractive.
TORONTO — Toronto-Dominion Bank is issuing $1-billion of long-term debt notes — maturing almost a century from now but redeemable after mid-2014 — to bulk up its Tier 1 capital.
The bank said Thursday that $550-million of the Capital Trust Securities (CaTS) maturing in 2108 will pay 9.523 per cent annual interest until June 30, 2019, with the rate then reset every five years.
The other series of $450-million in notes will pay 10 per cent interest until mid-2039, resetting every five years thereafter.
TD Capital Trust IV, a wholly owned subsidiary of the bank through which the notes are being issued, can redeem them on or after June 30, 2014.
The 99-year term to maturity of the notes is required for them to qualify as core Tier 1 capital, a key measure of banking solidity.
TD's latest reported Tier 1 capital ratio was 8.3 per cent of assets at the start of the banking year on Nov. 1, well above the regulatory minimum of 7 per cent but less than nervous investors wanted to see in the current unstable environment.
Since then, TD has raised $1.3-billion in new common stock, boosting Tier 1 capital above 9 per cent, and $520-million in two issues of preferred shares, in addition to the $1-billion in innovative notes announced Thursday