Asia Pacific

Loans banker Sherwin Wong has left Bank of America, according to a source close to the move.

China’s JIC Leasing Co priced a tight $500m bond on the back of strong support from the lead managers, after launching the transaction on a weak day for Asian capital markets.

FWD Group, an insurance company, was back with a $250m tap of a subordinated five year bond, thanks to a rally in its bond price in the secondary market.

Piped city gas distributor and repeat issuer China Oil and Gas Group has nabbed $320m for refinancing, offering investors some diversity amid a burst of supply from high yield property names.

Thailand’s Jasmine Broadband Internet Infrastructure Fund is planning to raise up to Bt38bn ($1.2bn) through a rights issue.

In this round-up, China lowered its holdings of US Treasuries yet again in May, new issuance of local government bonds has skyrocketed and regulators are wooing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to list on the new Shanghai Star market.

In this round-up, China and the US talked on Thursday after unhelpful comments from US president Donald Trump, China’s state council released policies on using social credits to regulate the market and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) published guidelines to help financial institutions exit from the market.

Rural Electrification Corp took advantage of strong demand for Indian credits this week, raising $650m despite paying a negligible new issue premium.

Indonesian power company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) has launched a $1bn five year deal into syndication, with bank meetings set to kick off at the end of the month.

Bondholders are still afraid to form alliances like those in the equity market to pressure issuers to improve their environmental, social and governance performance. They are paralysed by fear of market abuse and competition rules. But there is hope regulators will reassure them.

The S&P 500 last week broke through the 3,000 level and set a new record high to cap seven months of global equity indices gains. But active equity fund managers remain sceptical of the rally and are continuing to exercise caution particularly in IPO investing.

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s decision to pull the $9.8bn IPO of its Asian business is a classic example of a seller not listening to the views of investors when it comes to valuation.