Suncorp to roadshow ahead of A$ RMBS offer-source

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SYDNEY, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Australian insurance and banking
group Suncorp-Metway (SUN.AX) will meet with investors this
week ahead of a prime residential mortgage-backed securities
offer, a market source said on Monday.

The source asked not to be named because he is not
authorised to speak to the media.

Macquarie Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland have been
mandated to jointly lead the issue which was arranged by
Suncorp itself, the source said.

The Australian government said last month it would buy some
of the offer as part of its A$8 billion ($6.7 billion) RMBS
purchase plan announced last last year to inject much-needed
liquidity into the home loan market.

So far, the government has invested A$6.7 billion as a
keystone investor. Yet the Australian RMBS market remains a
shadow of its former self with almost no issuance without the
government's support.

Small lenders have suffered greatly since the U.S. subprime
mortgage crisis because they are reliant on the now-moribund
securitisation market to fund their operations.

The Suncorp issue, to be documented under an Apollo RMBS
programme, is expected to price by late August and will offer
at least A$500 million worth of securities.

The government said it would also invest in a new RMBS
offer by local mortgage lender Great Building Society, expected
to price by late August.

(Reporting by Cecile Lefort)