Asia Pacific

Thailand’s TMB Bank made a popular return to the bond market on Wednesday, raising $300m from a 5.5 year offering that was six times covered thanks mostly to its rarity value.

Chinese regional lender Bank of Jinzhou is planning to launch an H-share private placement in Hong Kong, according to a filing with the city’s stock exchange on Thursday.

Hong Kong Airlines made a quick return to the international bond market on Wednesday with a $120m tap of its maiden dollar issue from January.

After a barren year of sterling bond issuance from international borrowers, a dry patch that some thought would last until the Brexit referendum in June, an Australian company finally broke the silence on Wednesday.

The pace of borrowing in offshore renminbi is accelerating, but public markets remain closed, meaning MTN issuance is dominating in the currency.

Although sceptics argue that the Indian green bond market is driven more by the government than market forces, most market participants believe the asset class is set to take off over the next 12-18 months due to the country’s insatiable demand — and need — for green projects. Narae Kim reports.

India’s debt capital markets are evolving rapidly. The country’s issuers have been among the first in the emerging markets to adopt green bonds and this year Masala bonds — Indian rupee denominated bonds issued in offshore capital markets — look set for lift off. The country’s onshore bond market could also be set for a fresh flood of foreign interest as state debt becomes Euroclearable. GlobalCapital brought together some of the leading players in the Indian capital markets to give their views on the state of the market, where they see opportunities and the factors that prevent a larger swathe of Indian borrowers from accessing the international bond markets.

India has emerged as one of the few bright spots in the emerging markets over the past year, with the country benefiting from depressed oil prices and a popular prime minister. But even though the Indian economy is withstanding volatility better than others, offshore bond issuance volumes here disappointed. Rev Hui looks into why this is, and finds out if there is cause for optimism.

Indian issuers accounted for just a fraction of Asia’s bond market last year. But the potential for growth is vast — particularly in the offshore rupee debt market — with state-owned companies expected to lead the way for Masala issuance from the country. Rashmi Kumar reports.

Modi brought India back from the abyss on the promise of change. It’s now high time for him to deliver. Jonathan Breen reports.

Indonesian developer Grahamas Adisentosa is seeking a long-term borrowing of $1.458bn to fund the construction of a 111-storey building in Jakarta. The almost unprecedented size of the fundraising and an unusually long tenor have led to bankers debating who will come in for the deal, writes Shruti Chaturvedi.

Loss-making commodity trader Noble Group is in talks with banks for an unsecured borrowing of about $1.5bn to refinance existing debt.