Asean

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.

Coal miner Adaro Energy Indonesia has initiated talks with its relationship banks for a loan to refinance existing debt, with a request for proposals expected soon.

Indonesian oil and gas conglomerate Pertamina has picked three banks for a potential bond and is set to hit the road to meet investors.

Indonesia has put a firmer focus on the sukuk market over the last few years, and now plans to raise almost a quarter of its funding from sukuk investors. But although the government has done an admirable job flying the flag for Islamic bond issuance, the country's corporations have yet to follow suit in a meaningful way, reports Matthew Thomas.

Thailand has a lot to offer foreign issuers hoping to find funding opportunities in the offshore markets, but tougher regulations for foreign names and an illiquid swap market can put some issuers off. Perhaps not for long. Asiamoney talks to a group of leading market participants about the opportunities for foreign and domestic issuers in the Thai baht bond market.

Thailand's bond market still has a long way to grow to reach its potential, but in the diversity of credits and the availability of high yield borrowers, it has already achieved much that its peers in the ASEAN region are still dreaming about. Asiamoney sat down with a panel of high-level market participants to discuss Thailand's growing domestic debt market.

Indonesia is one of the largest emerging economies in the world. It should be unsurprising that the country has a huge infrastructure spending plan to meet over the next five years. Asiamoney sits down with a panel of senior market participants to discuss the best source of infrastructure funding over the coming years, and how that funding should be split between the government and the private sector.

Funding the plethora of infrastructure projects needed to hit the government's targets over the next five years is going to require a number of funding sources, from the government itself to multilateral institutions to bank lenders. But no-one doubts that the bond market is going to play a role. Asiamoney sat down with high-level representatives from all sides of the market to find out exactly how big that role can be.

For the second part of Asiamoney's Indonesia project finance roundtable, Ray Tay of Moody's chaired a discussion on the potential for PPPs and the best way to attract the private sector.

The stated aim of the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), officially launched in June 2015, is to respond to a need for massive spending across Asia. But its creation has caused political controversy, with supporters arguing it shows up previous iniquities while opponents fear it will be a mere tool for China's projection of power. Peter McGill reports.