Asean

Citi has appointed David Ratliff to the newly created position of head of public sector banking for Asia Pacific. The move is part of the bank’s strategy to combine corporate and investment banking alongside markets and securities services coverage of public sector clients in the region.

Summarecon Investment Property (SIP), a unit of Indonesian property giant Summarecon Agung, is looking to raise $200m-$250m in an IPO, with banks on the trade expecting to open books in October or November.

The Republic of the Philippines has pulled off a mammoth Ps263bn ($5.6bn) transaction, switching investors out of existing domestic bonds into new notes, with bondholders flooding in despite a volatile economic backdrop. The sovereign’s liability management exercise was well worth the effort with savings of about Ps2.4bn expected in the first year.

Indian pharmaceutical major Biocon, which approached the overseas loan market in July for a $200m loan, has seen five lenders join the syndicate.

RHB Capital has fixed the pricing for its rights offer to raise MR2.5bn ($581.5m), as the bank embarks on an internal restructuring and shores up capital to help meet Basel III requirements.

Judy Hsu is taking over as Standard Chartered's chief executive for Singapore from October 1.

HSBC has named former CLSA banker Andrew Maynard as head of sales trading and execution services for Asia Pacific equities, along with three other fresh senior hires for the unit.

Cross-border capital raising within Asean is set to become easier following the release of a handbook detailing a streamlined framework for issuers.

Malaysia’s Al-Salām Reit has launched its MR252m ($60m) IPO, with the domestic-only float getting some early interest from Shariah investment focussed funds and investors with links to the property trust’s sponsor.

In this round-up, Russian bank VTB tightens co-operation with China Development Bank, latest Hong Kong and Singapore deposit data, the Azeri state oil fund reports first holdings of RMB in its foreign currency reserves, and Bank of China and China Construction Bank H1 2015 reports highlight progress in cross-border RMB business.

Indonesian property developer Surya Semesta Internusa (SSIA) has shelved plans for a possible US dollar bond due to the volatility in global markets.

Singapore’s equity market appears jinxed this year following the failure of Jiangxi Jiangling Chassis’ S$49m ($34.8m) IPO, which would have been the first transaction to adopt the direct listing framework (DLF) with China. With the trade now in tatters, observers reckon it is time for the Lion City to rethink its IPO strategy, writes Rev Hui.