Asia Pacific

Natixis and Korea's KB Insurance (KBI) have signed a pact to co-invest in infrastructure and aviation debt that will be originated by the French lender.

The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) is moving forward with plans to broaden its China offering with equity futures for mainland companies. Meanwhile, Bank of China Hong Kong (BoCHK) has received approval to open a branch in Brunei, the first for a Chinese bank.

Law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has added Paul Wee Ei Don as a banking and finance partner in Beijing.

Hong Kong-listed Samsonite International has wrapped up syndication of a $2.425bn loan for its acquisition of premium luggage maker Tumi.

Yanlord Land Group, a Singapore incorporated real estate developer, kicked off a series of investor meetings on April 18 for a Panda bond offering. The trade will be the first Panda from a Singaporean issuer in the onshore exchange market.

Lou Jiwei, the Chinese minister of finance, lambasted the credit rating agencies, following last month’s decisions by Moody’s and S&P to downgrade the country’s sovereign debt outlook.

China launched a trial for the country’s first pair of domestic green bond indices last week as the budding asset class continues to gain traction.

Fortune Oil PRC Holdings, which is in the market for a $240m three year loan, has received one commitment so far with a score of lenders expressing interest in the credit.

DBS Group Holdings has completed its inaugural foray into Hong Kong’s bank capital market, selling a Basel III tier two trade last week. The move is part of the Singaporean lender's strategy to diversify its bank capital funding sources.

India’s Continental Warehousing Corp has opted for a domestic IPO to raise around Rp10bn ($150m), a source with knowledge of the situation told GlobalCapital Asia.

Pacific Basin Shipping has proposed a rights issue to raise HK$1.2bn ($150.6m) as it sees the dry bulk shipping market bouncing back from one of its most difficult periods in over 30 years.

Tata Power’s subsidiary Bhira Investments has moved the deadline for commitments for a $460m refinancing to late April.