Asean

Wealth and asset management firm Northern Trust Corporation has bumped up two of its veteran employees as the company focuses on growth in Asia Pacific.

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar could soon be making waves in the international debt market, having enlisted the help of Citi and Standard Chartered to attain its first credit rating.

Thai Union Frozen Products Public Company opened books for a Bt12.72bn ($371m) preferential public offering on Monday, July 20, following non-deal roadshows that brought some positive feedback from the investor community.

Chinese wealth management service provider Jupai Holdings priced its $53m IPO on the New York Stock Exchange at the bottom end of guidance on July 16, as its selling shareholders reined in the number of secondary shares on offer.

Philippine oil refining company Petron Corp has lined up seven banks to lead its $550m refinancing loan. The deal is likely to go into further syndication sometime in August, according to a source.

Korea Development Bank (KDB) made a rare venture into Singapore dollars, pricing a S$200m ($146.8m) three year bond. The deal was not only KDB’s biggest deal in the currency, but it was also the largest issue by a Korean name.

Reinsurance company Swiss Re has received the first RMB qualified foreign institutional investor licence in Switzerland. Meanwhile, Singapore-based UOB Asset Management has told GlobalRMB that it will launch three new RQFII products before the end of 2015.

In this round-up, Singapore deposits fell in the first quarter this year, Taiwan RMB deposits rose to a new record, Bank of China joined the new gold benchmark, and the first overseas inverse ETF shorting A-shares entered the market.

Singapore-based UOB has established a cross-border team focusing on its clients' RMB solutions needs, the bank said on June 17.

Khazanah Nasional took a huge step forward for socially responsible investment (SRI) in Malaysia this month with the country’s first sukuk in the sector, adopting a unique structure that could see investors’ pay-out reduced. It is a bold move for social reform, but Khazanah’s SRI sukuk may be a bit too ahead of its time.

In this round-up, Hong Kong deposits rose in April, but cross-border RMB trade settlement fell, Macau announced its March deposit figures, ICBC opened two new offshore branches in Montreal and Riyadh, RMB clearing in South Korea has reached a daily average of Rmb25bn, and Japanese bank MUFG helped Brazilian clients settle trade with China in RMB.

The renminbi is finding support from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) around Asia, according to a new survey by consulting firm East & Partners.