Asia Pacific

Chinese scooter maker Niu Technologies is planning to float on the Nasdaq for up to $150m, filing a prospectus with the US regulator on Monday.

Ganfeng Lithium is enticing investors to its HK$5.3bn ($678.9m) Hong Kong IPO by pitching it at a juicy discount of as much as 55% to its Shenzhen-traded shares.

Huatai Securities looks set to be the first issuer to test the London-Shanghai Stock Connect, revealing plans to raise at least $500m from a Global Depositary Receipts sale.

Korea Housing Finance Corporation (KHFC) has mandated leads for its first covered bond secured on mortgages with a social cause. For the first time, the borrower is open to issuing in euros.

The lengthy complaint about HSBC management drafted, purportedly, by investment bankers within the firm must be taken seriously and investigated, if its new CEO John Flint wants to win the confidence of the rest of the staff and shareholders.

On Monday evening in New York, a coalition of investors, NGOs and other parties publicly launched the World Benchmarking Alliance, an initiative to give investors free information about which companies are best at bringing about the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Two €500m deals issued by Commerzbank and ASB Finance went well enough. The New Zealand deal attracted new investors and hit the issuer’s funding target. However, Commerzbank was unable to tighten pricing by much, underscoring the impression that market sentiment had deteriorated slightly.

Kate Birchall, the former head of portfolio optimisation and collateral at National Australia Bank, has been chosen by LCH to lead the Asia Pacific operations of its London-based clearing house LCH Limited.

Shandong Gold Mining has raised HK$4.8bn ($616.8m) after sealing its IPO at the bottom of price guidance, according to a senior banker on the deal.

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) and the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to create a dual-listing route for Masala bonds in the hopes of giving a fillip to the asset class.

Keppel-KBS US Real Estate Investment Trust said on Monday it is considering raising new equity to help pay for an acquisition in Washington.

Debt-strapped Wuzhou International Holdings will be unable to make payments on its $300m bond this week, adding to a spate of other non-payment situations, including failing to redeem a $100m convertible bond as well as defaulting on a renminbi note and on some of its loan obligations.