Asia Pacific

South Korea’s stock exchange regulator has amended rules for listing on the country’s main board, in an effort to make the process easier and encourage more IPOs on the bourse.

In November, at the headquarters of the London Stock Exchange, Global Capital/Asiamoney hosted a roundtable discussion with several leading industry participants about the Masala bond market and its likely development. The discussion took place in the immediate aftermath of prime minister Narendra Modi’s visit to London, which coincided with a commitment for as much as £1bn of new rupee issuance to be listed on the LSE, broadening the market from the early International Finance Corporation and other supranational issuance to the private sector. The rationale for an offshore rupee bond market is clear: India, and in particular the central bank, want to reduce India’s vulnerability to foreign currency borrowing, while also retaining — for the moment — capital controls. For investors, offshore rupee bonds offer an opportunity to gain exposure to the currency, the economy and, as the market matures, specific credits. But the new market will face challenges, some logistical, and others about fundamental questions of governance. How will the Masala bond market evolve?

Deutsche Bank has appointed Simon Roue to the new position of head of DCM for Asia Pacific.

State Bank of India’s $500m loan has been allocated among 14 lenders, with signing scheduled for this week.

Alkem Laboratories is set to price its Rp13.5bn ($202.1m) IPO at the top of the range after investors piled into the trade, buoyed by healthy demand for the Indian pharmaceutical sector.

CIMB Group has picked former HSBC Amanah Malaysia chief, Mohamed Rafe bin Mohamed Haneef, to head its Islamic banking operations following the resignation of the previous CEO.

Syndication for a $145m loan backing the Blackstone Group’s acquisition of business process outsourcing assets in India is close to winding up.

China’s move to measure the renminbi against a trade weighted basket of currencies rather than just the US dollar is a sign from that central bank that it will be more tolerate of a weakening RMB, say FX traders.

Dr Lal Pathlabs has priced its Rp6.4bn ($95.2m) IPO at the upper end of guidance following strong demand from investors.

Fubon Financial owned Dafu Media is raising an NT$59bn ($1.86bn) seven year loan, primarily to refinance existing debt and partly for operating costs.

South Korean construction firm SK Engineering & Construction Co has signed a $100m loan for general corporate purposes from three Middle Eastern banks.

Nomura's head of southeast Asia debt capital markets is understood to be leaving the firm at the end of this month.