Asia Pacific

Thirteen companies that produce 30% of the world’s oil and gas have committed to reducing methane waste by a fifth, and will try to cut it by a third. The decision comes a few days after ExxonMobil, Chevron and Occidental joined an industry group on climate change. But analysts warn that there are many caveats to this good news.

The upcoming issuance of bills by the People’s Bank of China will improve management of offshore RMB (CNH) liquidity, but unless they come regularly and across tenors they may not help establish a dim sum yield curve.

The Independent State of Papua New Guinea made its much anticipated debut in the international debt market on Thursday, selling a $500m bond after years of flirting with investors.

S&P confirmed China’s rating due to positive policy moves, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said renminbi deposits in Hong Kong are on the upswing, and payment infrastructure provider Swift says RMB keeps the fifth position as a global payment currency.

The two largest equity index providers put A-shares in the spotlight this week, with FTSE Russell announcing it would begin including the stock in its emerging markets index from June 2019, and MSCI launching a consultation on granting A-shares a greater share of its EM indices.

Metropolis Healthcare has filed a draft red herring prospectus for an IPO with the Indian markets regulator, more than two years after it first hired banks for the deal.

China Life Insurance Co is planning a return to the offshore bond market for capital after a drop in its core solvency ratio, while Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is seeking shareholders’ blessing for a Basel III additional tier one (AT1) deal.

Canara Bank has waived through a plan to raise new equity to the tune of Rp60bn ($830m) from a qualified institutional placement.

Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group is looking to spin off its biotechnology unit through a Hong Kong IPO.

In this third part of the GlobalRMB awards, we present our reasons for choosing the best issuers in the FIG, corporate and SSA categories — and praise the strong performance of one well-known foreign law firm.

In the final article on our GlobalRMB awards, we talk about the key innovation of the year and highlight the individual that has made the greatest contribution to the development of China’s cross-border capital markets.

China’s Dafa Properties Group has hit the road for its Hong Kong IPO, looking to pocket up to HK$996m ($127.3m).