Asia Pacific

It was that time of the year again last weekend when rugby (and drinking) fans from around the world descend on Hong Kong for the Sevens, clogging up the island with fancy dress and drunken mischief.

China’s plans to reduce the pressure on its financial sector by pushing banks to securitize non-performing loans (NPLs) is plausible. But several conditions will first have to be met for the product to take off, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s head of international structured finance research Alexander Batchvarov.

Malaysia's Maybank has priced its latest $400m five year bullet loan tightly at 95bp over dollar Libor, launching the deal into general syndication last week.

Citi has created a new position of head of corporate banking for Asia Pacific, naming Gerry Keefe in the role.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reduced the minimum maturity of offshore rupee-denominated bonds, also known as Masala bonds, to three years.

Beijing-based Sunshine Life Insurance Corp found a strong following for its $1.5bn triple-tranche bond on Wednesday, despite its debutant status in the international debt market.

The securitization of non-performing loans by Chinese banks is gaining plenty of traction as they are set to achieve off-balance sheet accounting treatment — one of the major hurdles for the development of the asset class.

China’s Orient Securities Co is set to test market appetite for brokerages as it tees up a Hong Kong IPO of as much as $1.5bn. Its filing with the exchange comes at a time when the market environment for the sector looks good amid a broader improvement in sentiment, write Jonathan Breen and John Loh.

China is set to launch a new gold price benchmark via the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), according to market participants. The initiative will see the involvement of both local and foreign financial institutions, marking a new achievement in China’s quest to make the RMB a reference currency in the commodity markets.

Bank of China Aviation is poised to meet investors ahead of its 144A return that could hit the market as early as next week, while HK Electric has mandated banks for Reg S notes.

Hungary opened books for a three year offshore renminbi bond on Thursday with initial price guidance set at 6.50%. The deal is not only the debut RMB offering from the Hungarian government, but also the first public dim sum bond since November 2015.

Citi has created a new position of head of corporate banking for Asia Pacific, naming Gerry Keefe to the role.