Asia Pacific

MUFG Securities Asia has named Mark Henderson, a veteran banker who has been with the firm for nearly two decades, as its new chief executive.

Chinese biotechnology company InnoCare Pharma’s shares surged over 10% on their Monday debut, following an online opening ceremony for the HK$2.2bn ($288.7m) listing in Hong Kong.

Cambodia’s Acleda Bank has set the share price for its IPO after two roadshows events, but has extended the subscription period to accommodate the government’s coronavirus containment measures.

Asia’s sustainability-linked loan market has expanded further with a real estate investment trust raising funds linked to the global real estate sustainability benchmark (GRESB), a first for the region.

In this round-up, countries around the world have confirmed 14,641 deaths from Covid-19 infections, the coronavirus epicentre of Wuhan is gradually loosening its lockdown, and the New Development Bank is giving China its largest loan.

Barclays has named Carrie Chen as vice chairman of Greater China banking and Sung-Min Chung as head of technology in banking for Asia Pacific.

In this round-up, Europe has now seen more Covid-19 infections than China and Italy more fatalities than the Mainland, the central bank has decided not to lower the loan prime rate (LPR), and Beijing has banned reporters from three US newspapers.

Goldman Sachs announced on Thursday that an employee in its investment banking division in Hong Kong had been identified as a "highly probable case" of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

China’s Cathay Media and Education Group has re-applied for approval to float in Hong Kong, submitting documents on Thursday with its latest financial figures.

Sunac China Holdings made an opportunistic buyback of some of its outstanding dollar bonds on Thursday, in a move that bankers said can add some liquidity into the debt market while instilling confidence in the real estate company’s cash reserves.

Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance broke an almost year-long break from the China auto ABS market this week with a Rmb6.316bn ($892m) deal. The company added a three month revolving period to its transaction, a rarity for issuers.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is to start quantitative easing for the first time, it said on Thursday, while earlier this week the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) slashed rates and the New Zealand Treasury set out plans to increase its bond market borrowing.