Asia Pacific

Sustainable finance is bubbling with exciting new initiatives. But making people feel good is not enough. Activity needs to produce results, and so far there is more noise than movement. The tone is far too sedate — it needs some hard core activism to break the torpor.

CWT International, a Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of cash-strapped HNA Group, has defaulted on a HK$1.4bn ($179m) loan.

Shriram Transport Finance Co turned to US investors on Monday to help seal a $500m high yield bond, just weeks after selling a $400m Reg S trade.

South Korea’s Shinhan Bank sold Asia’s first dollar-denominated UN Sustainable Development Goals-linked bond on Monday, raising $400m from the Basel III-compliant tier two deal.

State-owned Vietnam Airlines Corp has won approval to list on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE).

Three Chinese property companies raised a combined $1.625bn from international bond sales on Monday, continuing the flow of high yield paper into the offshore market.

Credit Suisse will increase its stake in Credit Suisse Founder Securities (CSFS), the firm it owns as a joint venture with Founder Securities, to 51%, making it the latest foreign bank to take a majority holding in its China JV.

China has announced a series of tax incentives to help boost demand for the non-existent Chinese Depository Receipt (CDR) market. But the authorities have it backwards, investors are available, finding a willing issuer is the problem.

Biopharmaceutical company Hutchison China MediTech (Chi-Med) is planning a Hong Kong IPO of around $500m, having filed a draft prospectus with the city’s stock exchange on Monday.

Enel and NextEra Energy have, on a pilot basis, become the first companies to obtain one of S&P Global’s new ESG Evaluations. The product, launched last week, takes S&P into direct competition with providers of ESG ratings like MSCI and Sustainalytics — and with Moody’s, which a few days after S&P’s launch acquired Vigeo Eiris, the French-based ESG rating firm.

Moody’s has acquired a majority stake in Vigeo Eiris, the environmental, social and governance research and ratings provider, as the credit rating agencies move increasingly into the area of ESG investing. The announcement comes just days after S&P Global launched its new ESG Evaluation product.

Yellow Cake, a London-listed company operating in the uranium sector, completed a £25.9m share sale on Friday to continue funding uranium purchases from Kazakh uranium producer Kazatomprom.