Asia Pacific

Fantasia Holdings Group Co nabbed $300m from a bond sale on Wednesday, making it the latest high yield Chinese property borrower to dip into the offshore market.

Commerzbank and Crédit Agricole this week showed that banks do not have to pay big premiums for subordinated paper, with investors regaining their appetite for risk during the coronavirus pandemic.

Chinese streaming platform Bilibili returned to the equity-linked market on Thursday, kicking off bookbuilding for a $650m convertible bond, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Shandong Hi-Speed Group Co and Taiyuan State-owned Investment Group were among the bond issuers on a relatively busy day for the primary dollar market on Wednesday.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has scrapped a number of restrictions hampering the country's insurers from investing in perpetual bonds sold by smaller banks.

Korea Development Bank raised $1bn from a new bond on Wednesday, marking its third dollar transaction of the year.

Social distancing has created a new world for all of us. I’ve learned to mix my own cocktails with such flair that I’ll be teaching the bartenders a thing or two the next time I’m at the Captain’s Bar. But I’m also not the only old dog learning a few new tricks.

Some of the largest investment banks made 12% less revenue from lending in the first quarter, despite balance sheet expansion as they supported companies, according to research from analytics firm CRISIL Coalition.

Banks are bounding back into the Kangaroo market. On Wednesday, BNP Paribas jumped in to sell the first syndicated Australian dollar senior non-preferred deal since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, later that day the Bank of Nova Scotia announced plans to join the fray with a mandate for a three year bail-inable deal.

Alantra is buffing its credit portfolio advisory team with the addition of Marcus Evans and Christos Stefanidis, who will join as managing directors in the UK and Greece. The credit portfolio advisory firm is also opening up offices in Latin America and China.

Muddy Waters has fostered a fearsome reputation as a credible, thorough and forceful short seller whose explosive reports are a danger to anyone harbouring a stake in its intended target. Carson Block, its founder and chief investment officer, told GlobalCapital he has never been wrong about a company he’s shorted, though that doesn’t mean he’s made money from every position he has held. According to Block, monetary policies intended to stimulate markets through financial crises actually corrode them, and stifle accountability for serious failures in corporate governance.

Taiwan’s Chailease International Finance Corp is returning to the loan market through its Singapore entity for a $100m deal.