Asia Pacific

Chinese auto company Geely International (Hong Kong) ventured into the bond market with an uncommon structure on September 16, raising $300m with a floating rate note backed by a loan from Bank of China.

HSBC has promoted Sean Henderson to the role of deputy head of debt capital markets for Asia Pacific, as well as head of capital financing for Singapore, according to an internal memo seen by GlobalCapital Asia.

Standard & Poor’s has raised South Korea’s sovereign credit rating by one notch to AA- from A+ with a stable outlook, saying this was a result of a favourable policy environment, sound fiscal position, and net external creditor position.

Indian pharmaceutical companies are creating a buzz in the loan market by seeking debt to fund outbound acquisitions. While other sectors in the country are yet to kick off such spending in a big way, the pharmaceutical industry has been an exception, and bankers are hoping for more opportunities to finance purchases. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

Houston Huang Guobin, a former Goldman Sachs coverage banker, has decamped to JP Morgan to take up the position of head of global investment banking for China.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has made three senior hires in its Asia Pacific research unit, according to a memo seen by GlobalCapital Asia.

India is trying to get its life insurers out from between a rock and a hard place by pushing ahead with new legislation to ease the way for their IPOs. The move has been a long time coming, but any marquee public offerings from the country’s life insurance firms are still at least a year away, writes John Loh.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) took the bond market by storm this week, printing a $2bn Basel III tier two offering, the first Chinese bank capital trade since May. Despite coming during a week dominated by speculation about the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates, ICBC still managed to meet its price and size targets, offering just a small new issue premium.

CLP Wind Farms, a unit of CLP India, became the first corporate from the country to issue a green bond on September 15. Market participants expect India’s green issuance to take off, as it needs such financing with more liquidity expected to guarantee pricing benefits.

A subdued north Asia equity capital market, which has barely seen any activity since August, suddenly burst into life on September 16. American car rental company Hertz reduced its stake in China Auto Rental (CAR) while Taiwan’s TWi Pharmaceuticals sold GDRs on the same day to raise a combined $187m.

A $125m loan for Bharat PetroResources International (BPRL), a subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL), has launched into targeted syndication.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has chosen three banks to work on a potential dollar offering in conventional format, days after Fitch assigned the sovereign a junk rating.