Asia Pacific

Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation priced the year’s largest offshore renminbi bond by a multinational corporation on June 17 raising Rmb1.8bn ($293.6m). The company took no chances, pricing the deal at premium to encourage investors still jittery from the recent volatility in the international financial markets.

The Federal Reserve’s plan to increase interest rates after 2014 could potentially decrease Hong Kong competitiveness as an alternative funding hub to China, says the bank.

Despite reporting growth in renminbi transaction flows in 2012, London also experienced a drop in renminbi deposits and diminished activity in areas key to the currency’s internationalisation.

Dealogic league tables of Asian local currency bond transactions, dated June 12, 2013. Including All Asian (ex Japan) currency bonds, all offshore renminbi bonds, Hong Kong dollar, Korean won, Chinese renminbi, Indian rupee, Taiwanese dollar, Indonesian rupiah, Singapore dollar, Thai baht and Malaysian ringgit.

In this roundup of offshore renminbi news, China’s Ministry of Finance announces its annual dim sum plans, The City of London sees growth in renminbi trading, and Hang Seng receives RQFII approval.

MSCI downgraded the MSCI Greece Index from developed market to emerging market but raised Qatar and the UAE to emerging market status

Global banks are in discussions with onshore Chinese lenders in anticipation of a regulation change that will allow the latter to issue Basel-III compliant capital in the dim sum and US dollar markets.

The renminbi is starting to weaken against the US dollar, opening the window for greater foreign exchange reform and allowing more two-way volatility, according to HSBC.

The headwinds that hit India's economy continue to pose risks to growth, but the country's fate hinges on the government's determination to push through reforms