Asia Pacific

Royal Bank of Canada bagged Rmb900m ($136.57m) from its inaugural public offshore renminbi bond on Friday, making it just the third issuer to seal a dim sum bond this year.

Samson Paper raised HK$780m ($100m) from its latest outing to the syndicated loan market, with strong demand lifting the deal from an initial size of HK$570m.

Tianjin Real Estate Group Co raised $100m from a 4.5% bond on Friday, the lone Asian issuer to have priced a transaction.

Net FX sales by Chinese bank are down 75% month-on-month in August, an advisor to the People’s Bank of China urges push for renminbi internationalisation as the currency strengthens, and Portugal hires banks for its first Panda bond issuance.

In September, a number of issuers have returned to the European corporate bond markets after a number of years without issuing. On Wednesday, German chemicals distributor Brenntag, Australian property company Goodman and Austrian steel company Voestalpine were the latest to join that list.

Anil Agarwal, founder of mining group Vedanta Resources, has managed to surprise the stockmarket with the same trick twice. But as Jon Hay and Aidan Gregory write, his intentions in buying another £1.5bn of shares in Anglo American are anything but clear, and he is paying a high price for influence.

Kazakhstan’s KazTransGas has made its debut in the bond markets, raising $750m of 10 year money at a price close to where its state-run owner, KazMunaiGas, trades.

CapitaLand Commercial Trust Management is looking to raise S$1.82bn for its acquisition of Asia Square Tower 2 through a combination of debt and equity.

Indonesia’s Waskita Karya sealed a Rph5tr ($375m) loan this week, in a rare syndication with international banks. While the borrower raised its profile as it tapped into pockets of rupiah liquidity from foreign lenders, the deal also illustrated the push by north Asian banks to deploy their balance sheet in Indonesia. John Loh writes.

There was relief all round this week after Hong Kong's financial regulator backed down from a contentious plan to increase its involvement in listing approvals, and also gave the market some much-needed clarity on its role in IPOs, writes Jonathan Breen.

Standard Chartered has allocated a $300m offshore financing for Lotte Vietnam Shopping to four additional banks, following general syndication.

It has been a tough year for Chinese issuers as they battle with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to get go-aheads for offshore bond sales. But the regulator’s snail-like approval process appears to be crawling to a near standstill ahead of the National Congress of the Communist Party, leaving bankers befuddled about what to expect for the rest of the year. Morgan Davis reports.