Asia Pacific

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China is taking its toll on Asia's capital markets. Many countries have acted quickly to contain the disease as much as possible, leaving investors, bankers and companies with capital market ambitions in limbo, with many forced to cancel travel plans and work from home. The outbreak shows no signs of abating — but it may not mar the capital markets for long.

Chinese biotechnology firm Akesobio has resubmitted its IPO documents with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, two months after the bourse rejected its original listing application.

Hong Kong’s stock exchange is looking to put artificial intelligence technology to use for reviewing disclosures by listed companies.

Kangmei Pharmaceutical Co, which committed a high-profile fraud last year, has become the first company to default onshore after Chinese New Year, having failed to repay a Rmb2.4bn ($342m) bond that was put back by its holders.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Government of Cambodia and the European Investment Bank have launched a $124.5m rural development project to boost income and food security in the southeast Asian country.

The Japan Finance Organisation for Municipalities has picked banks for its first ever green bond, opting to print in euros for only the second time in the borrower’s history.

Equity capital markets bankers and investors are looking get stuck into deals after a quiet period last week as markets reacted to the spread of a virulent strain of coronavirus emanating from China.

Chinese stocks plummeted on Monday morning, the first trading day after the Lunar New Year holiday. The plunge came despite measures from the central bank and securities regulator to inject liquidity and ban short selling.

In this round-up, UBS expects China’s GDP growth to drop to 3.8% in the first quarter due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, Hong Kong banks shut branches to limit the virus spread and Chinese regulators step in with stablising measures for financial markets.

India’s equity capital market is likely to get a big injection of liquidity, after the government announced the planned sell-downs and listings of a number of state-owned entities in its annual budget.

Devesh Ashra has left his position as co-head of Asia Pacific debt solutions at Bank of America in Hong Kong.

SMBC Aviation Capital, an aircraft leasing company, has closed a $600m dual-tranche borrowing with 14 banks.