Asia Pacific

Or so the saying goes. Not in China, it seems. Breaking the news that a bulge bracket firm in Hong Kong is suing a Chinese SOE client for non-payment of fees, our columnist Clawback says doing business in China is now little more than a league table exercise.

Malaysia's MRCB-Quill Reit is out with a placement of up to MR487.9m ($110.1m), which will close and price on Thursday afternoon local time.

Three Chinese corporates took centre stage on Thursday with their respective dollar bond offerings. So far this week, borrowers from the country are the only ones to tap the Asia ex-Japan debt market.

The Luxembourg financial regulator has decided to allow Ucits funds registered in the country to enter the China interbank bond market direct access (CIBM Direct) scheme. The move is set to give yet another boost to China bond investments.

The first official list shows that investors have been keen to gain access to the China interbank bond market (CIBM). This is only the start with banks reporting strong demand from asset managers, while regulators are working hard to facilitate further inflows.

The leveraged finance market should not view direct lending as competition but instead as a complementary funding source, said a direct lending official speaking at the Euromoney Nordic high yield conference in Stockholm this week.

The Republic of Indonesia re-opened G3 sovereign bonds for emerging market issuers last week with a $3bn triple-trancher — the second December in a row that it has made an early start on its funding plans. While its timing has come under criticism from some market watchers, the country made a savvy move given the circumstances.

Chinese local government financing vehicle (LGFV) Yunnan Provincial Energy Investment Group returned to the international bond market on Tuesday, netting $440m from a dual-trancher. Market participants reckoned the company paid a premium amid a volatile market backdrop.

ING Bank has hired Winston Tay as head of Asia debt syndicate in Singapore, effective Wednesday.

Shanghai-listed Jangho Group is planning to float its architecture and interior design subsidiary Steve Leung Designers in Hong Kong, winning approval from its board this week.

Singapore-listed MYP has halved its rights issue to S$97.9m ($68.8m) after shareholders gave the fundraising the cold shoulder.

Nine banks have banded together to arrange a $750m dual tranche facility for Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI).