Asia Pacific

It was a tense finish for the Indian government’s Rp93.96bn ($1.42bn) sell-down of its stake in Indian Oil Corp (IOC) with books only covered just before the transaction was due to close thanks to late bids from state-owned insurers.

Barclays has promoted Alex Aram to head of credit trading for Asia Pacific and has added two new hires to the region’s credit team.

The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) group has hired former BNP Paribas (BNPP) head of RMB Julien Martin to join its fixed income and currencies (FIC) group.

Following an already disappointing week, Asia’s equity markets suffered another brutal sell-off when trading re-opened on Monday. The turmoil is confounding market watchers and turning up the heat on ECM, with bankers saying new issuance may be fighting a losing battle.

The last few months have been a bit of a roller coaster for Chinese equities, both on the mainland and in Hong Kong. The sharp volatility in the indices has frightened investors away and put a damper on primary issuance. But the bubble finally bursting is symptomatic that further changes are badly needed. These also need to be more than just skin deep, argues Philippe Espinasse.

The rapid growth in renminbi products and services in South Africa shows the country is well positioned to become Africa’s RMB hub. This is despite the growing competition from other countries on the continent, says Standard Bank.

Construction firm Datem has filed for an up to Ps4.05bn ($87m) IPO, with the company eyeing a November listing on the Philippine Stock Exchange.

China Energy Engineering Corp is gearing up for a Hong Kong IPO, with the company filing a draft prospectus on Friday. But it comes as Asian equities followed a global sell-off and Chinese shares slumped 4.3%, and as bankers sound the alarm over primary deal flow.

Tianjian state-owned Tianfang Hospitality Reit, which is looking to list in Singapore, is delaying its $200m-$250m IPO amid the current rocky market conditions and the deadly explosions in Tianjin port, said sources.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is hoping to be at the forefront of China's planned reopening of its Panda bond market as well as its development of green bonds. The supranational has told GlobalRMB that it is preparing a Panda bond return as well as bringing a broader onshore issuance programme that would include green offerings.

The governor of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the country’s central bank, said on August 17 it was seeking an agreement with People’s Bank of China to become the fourteenth jurisdiction with a RMB qualified foreign institutional investor (RQFII) quota.

In this round-up, Macau’s RMB trade settlement hits a new record, RMB deposits in Taiwan see a tiny drop, Bank of China’s international RMB usage index climbs again and CSRC publishes its updated list of new RQFII quota licences.