Asia Pacific

The margin compression that dominated the Asian syndicated loan market in 2016 was expected to spill into this year. But Chinese capital controls have proved to be a game changer, with Mainland companies compelled to turn to overseas funding, said market participants. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

Banks these days go to great lengths to support new mothers, doing everything from extending vacation time to shaming managers who fire pregnant employees.

China Huarong Asset Management Co offer investors a rare combination of a senior three year and a senior perpetual bond in its first outing of the year, snapping up $2.6bn across two tranches.

TPG Stallion Holdings raised HK$542.7m ($70.0m) after offloading a chunk of its stock in Chinese firm Li Ning Co this week, while Malaysia’s Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) sold a block of Maybank shares for MR281.7m ($63.3m).

Donald Trump will officially become president of the US on Friday, but it was clear this week that he poses no great upset to capital raising in Asia. Bond issuance was ablaze as bankers also soldiered on in equity and loan markets, despite a general air of caution around the swearing in. The GlobalCapital Asia team reports.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) has proposed creating a new board in a bid to remain a leading global IPO market.

After some shocking first day flops in recent months, Hong Kong IPOs have become a nerve racking investment, and investors are responding by changing their approach to the city’s primary equity market. Investors have lost trust in their ability to assess an opportunity and are looking for reassurance from their peers, writes Jonathan Breen.

The Republic of the Philippines grabbed $2bn from investors Wednesday, after rolling out a new 25 year note with a tender offer for existing investors.

Repeat Chinese issuer Yuzhou Properties Company and debut credits Reward Science and Technology Industry Group Co and United Photovoltaics pushed into the busy Wednesday market, looking to close dollar deals before the holiday.

The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) raised $1.5bn Wednesday across three and five year tranches, less than a week after the Republic of Korea reopened the Asian sovereign market with a $1bn 10 year deal.

Mizuho adds new head of FIG — Natixis loses Asia debt syndicate chief — Citi picks Campbell to head DCM for Aus, NZ — Uppal, Verma promoted in HSBC CMB shuffle — Mok named Citi country officer for Taiwan — Maybank hands regional roles to senior bankers — Deutsche names Apac global markets co-heads

Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX) chief executive Charles Li laid out the exchange’s plans for 2017, with a strong focus on expanding its RMB offering through new products such as Chinese treasury bond futures and connectivity with China’s bond market.