Asean

Singapore Exchange (SGX) has created a new index targeting Asian issuers and investors, as it seeks to fulfil the increasing demand for index-linked investment opportunities in the region.

Thai petrochemical producer Indorama Ventures has made its debut in the Singapore dollar bond market, raising S$195m ($137m) from 10 year notes backed by the Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility (CGIF).

JP Morgan has made two senior hires to its China investment banking business, this time poaching from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Rothschild as it continues to build its franchise in the country.

Cigarette giant Philip Morris International has cut its stake in its Indonesian unit HM Sampoerna, netting a chunky Rph20.3tr ($1.38bn) in the process. The success of the trade was down to large commitments from anchor orders, who signed up for nearly half of the shares in advance.

Commerzbank has lost a senior member of its Asia DCM syndicate team, according to a source close to the move.

ANZ has received the final regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Myanmar to open its first branch in the country, deepening the Australian lender's presence in the Greater Mekong region.

Commodities trader Trafigura has seen big success with its syndicated loan, bumping up its fundraising to $2.2bn from the launch size of $1.6bn.

Mizuho Bank has raised Bt3bn ($83m) from its debut in the Thai bond market, with the deal also marking the first offering under a new pan-Asian initiative designed to streamline debt issuance. The trade received a robust response from investors, and is expected to pave the way for other similar transactions.

The leads on HM Sampoerna’s Rph20.8tr ($1.4bn) follow-on have told investors that the trade is covered across the price range, after the Indonesian unit of Philip Morris International attracted a slew of long-only investors.

Korean banks have pulled back from the Samurai market, as funding costs have moved against them, but some other names have stepped into the breach. Australian banks are a key fixture in the Samurai markets, while the arrival of Maybank this year gives a pointer to future issuance. Asia Pacific financial institutions issuers are also proving instrumental in the steady development of the Pro-Bond market. Volatility in China, however, is not helping anybody. In September, some of Asia Pacific’s leadering FIG borrowers spoke to GlobalCapital about prospects in the Japanese capital markets.

An evolution is happening in emerging market issuers’ use of yen funding. For many years, many of them have only been able to issue Samurai bonds by using JBIC’s GATE (Guarantee and Acquisition toward Tokyo market Enhancement) programme, but steadily more of them are stepping up to standalone issuance. At the same time, benchmark borrowers are bringing along less established issuers from the same countries in their wake

The Samurai bond market has long been a key source of returns for investors in the local market, and those investors have plenty more to look forward to. But a challenging swap market could limit issuance. Matthew Thomas reports.