Asia Pacific

Three of the largest euro funders in the supranational and agency market are set to reduce their issuance in the currency next year. But renminbi could form a bigger slice of at least one issuer's 2015 business.

London experienced a near doubling of its RMB deposit base in the first half of 2014, according to a report commissioned by the City of London Corporation and published on December 15. RMB-denominated foreign exchange trading also increased by 116% to $54tr, while RMB trade finance grew by 79% to Rmb26.5bn ($4.3bn).

In this round-up, a Shanghai-Hong Kong Gold Connect may be in the works, the United Arab Emirates could activate its currency swap line with China soon, and two Chinese asset managers raise funds for the first Stock Connect-linked ETFs to be launched in the mainland.

BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP), the asset management arm of of the French bank, has opened a subsidiary in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ), to complement its two branches there and its existing onshore joint venture.

The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, the mutual trading programme that allows investors in Hong Kong and Shanghai to each buy stocks listed in the other market, should consider pushing into new areas once it has bedded down, say experts. In particular, a connection to an existing market link-up between ASEAN countries could offer exciting possibilities.

Beijing Energy Investment Holding (BEIH) has arranged a series of meetings with fixed income investors starting this week for a dim sum bond issue.

Standard Chartered's RMB Globalisation Index (RGI) surpassed the 2,000 mark in October, on the back of slowing but persistent growth in offshore RMB deposits and cross border RMB payment volumes, the bank said.

For the third part of our annual awards, we cover Best Local Currency Bond, Best Securitization, Best High Yield Bond, Best Investment Grade Corporate Bond, Best Financial Bond, Best Sovereign Bond, Best Local Currency Bond House and Best G3 Bond House.

The launch last Thursday of renminbi clearing in Luxembourg via the country's official RMB clearing bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Luxembourg, marked another big step in the development of its local RMB market. Those doing business there hope the greater efficiency and speed achievable through local clearing will help to promote RMB use there.

The northbound track of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect programme saw more sell trade than buy orders at noon on December 9, the first time for such a dynamic since the programme launched on November 17, reports GlobalRMB.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) took plenty of plaudits last week, with a unique triple currency additional tier one (AT1) transaction that included a record-breaking offshore renminbi tranche. While some say that the trade was a testament to the depth of the CNH market, that is an argument too far. This was anything but a conventional trade.

Caisse d'Amortissement de la Dette Sociale is likely to print at the short end of the curve when it brings a debut offshore renminbi bond, the agency’s chairman has told GlobalCapital. But any deal will be subject to movements in the euro/RMB cross-currency basis swap, which SSA syndicates managers warned is still very volatile.