Asia Pacific

Tata Power's subsidiary Khopoli Investments is making a quick return to the loan market, mandating six lenders to arrange a $300m refinancing.

Samsung Bioepis, the pharmaceutical arm of Korea’s Samsung Group, is planning a highly-anticipated IPO on the Nasdaq in 2016, and has dished out mandates for the listing to four banks.

Infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) have failed to gain any sort of traction in India since their introduction last year to reduce the funding pressure on infrastructure projects. Several tax and structural issues impeded the progress of the asset class, but things could soon improve if the government implements recommendations from a new consultation paper.

China Renaissance Securities (Hong Kong) has hired a new co-head of mergers and acquisitions, poaching Jeremy Choy from JP Morgan.

Everbright Securities Co navigated cautious market on its first outing to the dollar bond market thanks to the presence of anchors orders and a standby letter of credit (SBLC) from China Merchants Bank’s Shanghai branch. As the first BBB rated SBLC backed trade, it has set a benchmark for future issues.

More currency volatility and a shaky stock market may look scary, but the trend for foreign ownership of Chinese securities is up. Standing at just 2% of the Chinese market, further reforms can only boost the quota of Chinese equities and bonds in global portfolios, according to banks and asset managers.

HSBC has been mandated as the sole offshore RMB concentration bank for LME Clear, clearing house for the London Metal Exchange (LME), which accepted the offshore renminbi (CNH) as eligible cash collateral earlier this month. The bank has told GlobalRMB that the initiative shows the growing prominence of RMB in commodities markets.

Many years after the Australian states of Victoria and South Australia privatised their electricity assets, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia are finally discussing similar moves. But the processes are fraught with political sensitivity and corporate machinations. Ben Power reports.

Sri Lanka’s growth over the past couple of years has been nothing short of exceptional, following the end of an almost three decades-long civil war. But the positivity has faded somewhat this year. Market participants say the country must now clear up its political troubles if it is to truly fulfil its potential. Rev Hui reports.

Vietnam is working fervently to open its markets, turning things up a notch in August by signing a landmark free trade agreement with the European Union. The country’s transformation from a nation ravaged by war to one of Asia’s biggest success stories is impressive, but more reforms are critical if it wants to have a real chance at becoming the next tiger economy. Rashmi Kumar reports.

The Jakarta leg of our Asean Bond Markets Roundtable discussions for 2015.

DBS is just three years younger than Singapore, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The bank's steady rise has mirrored that of the city-state, but chief executive Piyush Gupta is hoping it is now positioned to seize the opportunities of a fast-growing region better than its competitors. Mark Baker reports.