Asia Pacific

Renault returned to the dim sum bond market on Wednesday, after making its debut in 2012 and a return visit in 2013. This time it brought a Rmb500m (€65m) three year issue.

China Merchants Bank (CMB) Hong Kong branch priced its debut offshore renminbi bond of Rmb2bn ($326m) on November 25. The deal was equally split into a three year sold at 3.95% and a five year priced at 4.05%, and the two tranches were separately listed in Singapore and Taiwan.

Just days after China Construction Bank (Asia) sold the biggest ever Formosa bond through the first four tranche structure seen in Taiwan’s local renminbi market, Bank of Communications (BoCom) Taipei Branch is set to launch its own four tranche deal on November 27, two bankers close to the deal have told GlobalRMB.

The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) successfully completed its second CNH bond of the year with a Rmb1bn ($163m) offering that was split between a three year and a five year. While the order book is not big by Asian standards, the issuer was still able to put it to good use and price an extremely tight bond.

Chinese real estate developer Logan Property Holdings launched a two-day roadshow on Tuesday as prepares its maiden dim sum bond six months after selling its inaugural international issue.

Bond investors are facing yet another blockbuster bank capital deal just a month after Bank of China’s $6.5bn additional tier one (AT1) with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) set to launch its own trade later this week. While ICBC is likely to lose out in size, it is planning to steal the spotlight by executing a triple-currency transaction including a record beating offshore renminbi offering.

The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) is set to raise Rmb1bn ($163m) from a dim sum that will be split between a three and a five year, according to bankers working on the trade.

China’s Ministry of Finance’s (MoF) second auction of offshore China government bonds (CGBs) this year priced in line with market predictions on Thursday, with the curve flattening from the previous auction in May on the back of easing expectations, and spreads narrowing versus onshore paper. Particularly notable was the demand for the three and 10 year tranches, resulting in subscription levels of 4.32 times and 3.85 times, respectively.

While European ABS issuance was impatiently waiting for the entrance of the European Central Bank this week, Australian issuance was ploughing on with another two banks having mandated for RMBS transactions.

The newly-minted Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect has made some progress in opening up China’s capital markets, but the next level would be inclusion into the MSCI indexes, said analysts.

The Australian state of New South Wales priced a landmark debut offshore renminbi bond late in the evening Sydney time on November 19, riding the momentum from this week's establishment of an Australian RMB hub to shave 10bp off initial guidance and hit its target size and funding cost.

A deterioration in the quality of new collateral in an environment of low interest rates and buoyant house prices will be no barrier to continued strong performance from Australian RMBS and other ABS, according to Moody’s.