Asia Pacific

Chongqing Yufu Assets Management managed to raise Rmb500m ($81m) through its debut bond in offshore renminbi on November 19 but struggled to get investor attention amid a raft of competing supply. As well as being its first outing in the international bond market it is also the first offshore issue from the Chongqing state-owned enterprise.

Dim sum investors are showing plenty of appetite for Chinese brokerages, with Orient Securities this week becoming the fourth issuer in the sector and securing a book of more than Rmb2.2bn ($360m) before printing a Rmb900m three year bond, its first in CNH.

This week's launch of RMB clearing in Germany and the completion of the first transactions shows that although there is a long term plan for an innovative clearing house structure in the country, for the moment the system is very much anchored to its first stage, clearing through Bank of China (BoC).

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

The Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) has made good its intention of being the first Australian government entity to issue an offshore renminbi bond, with the NSW Treasury Corporation (TCorp) announcing on Tuesday that it had mandated banks for its debut issue and then launching the deal on Wednesday. The borrower is only the third non-China government entity to sell an RMB bond.

A pair of Chinese financial firms have launched offshore renminbi bonds on Wednesday, just a day before China’s Ministry of Finance begins an auction of Rmb12bn ($1.9bn) of dim sum debt.

Bank of China Sydney Branch has been appointed by the People's Bank of China (PBoC) to be an official offshore RMB clearing bank. The designation comes in a busy week for the Australian RMB business, with the two countries signing an MoU on RMB clearing and the state of New South Wales launching an RMB bond.

Bankers expect the next auction of offshore RMB bonds in Hong Kong by China's Ministry of Finance (MoF) to come on Thursday, with analysts predicting a bumper response, particularly in the short dated tranches. Earlier this month the MoF said that the Rmb12bn ($1.9bn) sale, its second auction of the year, would come in the week of November 17.

Whether because of delays or last-minute decisions, naysayers of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect have had a field day berating it as little more than a half-hearted exercise. But such an ambitious task was never going to be without its problems. More credit should be given to what’s already been achieved.

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on November 17 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish official renminbi clearing arrangements in Australia. The country was also awarded a Rmb50bn ($8.1bn) quota for the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) scheme and a clearing bank is on the cards soon.

Australian mortgage lender Liberty Financial printed its second RMBS transaction of the year on Friday, with the non-conforming portion of its portfolio ensuring the deal was priced slightly wider than other recent RMBS trades contributing to a A$3bn-plus run of Aussie dollar supply.

Its recent return to the offshore renminbi bond market and its new status as Canada's hub for RMB trade settlement have seen the Province of British Columbia (BC) reinforce its commitment to China and its support for the RMB as a global currency, Michael de Jong, BC’s Minister of Finance, has told GlobalRMB during a visit to Hong Kong.