Okanagan: Floating and fixed

The Province of British Columbia's mania for financial secrecy has not yet dented competition to fund its public-private partnership, or P3 projects. The recent financial close for the Okangan Lake Crossing project, a 27-year private placement, demonstrates the keen competition between foreign banks and domestic institutional lenders.

The C$157 million ($130 million) deal re-establishes Canadian institutions as viable lead lenders, and further marginalises Canadian banks as influential players in Canadian P3. Initial assessments of the Canadian market had suggested that domestic underwriters would be a requirement for most institutional financings. However, this placement closed without the services of an intermediary and a strong rating – it gained an A from Standard & Poor's.

Exact details of the financing are likely to leak out further down the line. The province prefers to have its own numbers for the savings compared to a traditional procurement route on hand before subjecting financing...