Norton Rose Fulbright advised Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in its inaugural Basel III-compliant domestic public offering of $500 million of Non-Cumulative, 5-Year Rate Reset Preferred Shares Series AZ. Our team of Dawn Whittaker, Heidi Reinhart and Evelyn Li assisted RBC’s in-house legal team led by Erin Dion, Senior Counsel.

The offering was originally announced at $200 million, but as a result of strong investor demand, the gross proceeds of the offering were increased to $500 million. The expected closing date is January 30, 2014.

This is yet another first for RBC. In August 2013 it registered its €23 billion global covered bond programme under the new Canadian covered bond legislation. RBC registered approximately US$5.5 billion worth of benchmark international covered bond deals in July/early August 2013. Norton Rose Fulbright advised RBC on these matters as well.

Norton Rose Fulbright has over 1,000 professionals dedicated to financial institutions. We advise many of the world’s leading banks, asset managers, financial investors and insurance companies, in Canada and on a global scale.

For more on RBC’s in its inaugural Basel III-compliant domestic public offering, visit http://www.rbc.com/newsroom/2014/01-21-pref-shares-inc.html.