Asean

The central bank of Laos has rolled out a debut offshore syndication of up to $200m as it looks to diversify its funding channels. It has decided to take a strategic approach to its financing by tapping only a select pool of liquidity, writes Shruti Chaturvedi.

United Overseas Bank (UOB) recently hired Ben Chan Ho Fai as the head of RMB solutions, a new unit that the bank set up earlier year.

HSBC Global Asset Management has named Puneet Chaddha as chief executive officer of Singapore as well as head of southeast Asia.

Indonesia’s Trikomsel Oke announced this week that it won't be able to pay interest on two Singapore dollar bonds owing to financial difficulties. If it happens, it would be the first case of default in the Singapore bond market since the global financial crisis, and is expected to rock the city-state’s debt market.

Citi has hired a former Standard Chartered banker as its new chief economist for India.

OUE Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit), which is looking for a S$360m ($258m) three year loan to fund acquisitions, has launched the deal into general syndication.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) has wrapped up its second offering in the dollar bond market this year, finding strong interest from onshore and offshore investors thanks to a rating upgrade from Moody’s.

Golden Meditech has closed its HK$985.70m ($127.19m) rights issue with shareholders taking up just 69% of the transaction, forcing its underwriter to absorb the remaining shares.

Malaysian telecommunications company Axiata Group has mandated banks for its first Islamic bond in more than three years.

VietinBank, one of the four largest state-owned commercial lenders in Vietnam, has doubled the size of its latest borrowing to $200m after fully exercising a greenshoe option.

The central bank of Laos is making its debut in the syndicated loan market for a facility of $100m-$200m, as the country seeks to diversify its funding sources.

Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC) and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) are venturing into the international debt market, opening books for their respective euro and dollar bonds.