Through newly established vehicle Blue Granite Investments No 1, the bank has issued bonds which will be listed on the bond exchange.

The move is a growing trend by the bank to finance assets using securitisation rather than funding them off its own balance sheet.

Last month it raised R3bn in debt securitisation to provide new funding for its car finance business.

Mike Brunke, who is manager of securitisation, said that the bonds had been issued at a weighted average spread of the Johannesburg Inter-bank Acceptace Rate (Jibar) plus 0,36%.

This compared with previous bonds the bank issued at Jibar plus 0,55%, although the issues were not strictly comparable, he said.

The most senior of the new bonds, which made up 90% of the issues, had been assigned ratings of AAA and Aaa by Fitch and Moody’s respectively. They were expected to mature within three and 10 years.

Brunke said the market was liquid, which meant the bank could securitise assets more cheaply.

"Standard Bank’s ability to raise substantial funding in the capital market indicates the level of comfort that South African investors have developed for this asset class," Brunke said.

He said that securitisation was well-established in Europe and North America, and was likely to be popular in SA.