Asia Pacific

Equity investors have endured a volatile year with numerous geopolitical shocks leading to falls in markets and sapping confidence. But now they are positioning for the previously unimaginable, a trade war between the world’s two largest economies and all the ramifications that will follow, writes Sam Kerr.

Portugal’s planned Panda bond is “being finalised” and the sovereign is “looking closely” at the green bond market, according to the country’s minister of finance.

Agile Group Holdings printed a smaller-than-expected $200m bond on Wednesday, struggling to source demand in spite of a generous yield, raising questions about the timing of the transaction.

Hyundai Oilbank, a subsidiary of shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries, is looking for the green light for an IPO of up to W2tr ($1.77bn).

Indian apparel maker TCNS Clothing is seeking up to Rp11.24bn ($163.9m) from a float of only secondary shares.

Philippine conglomerate San Miguel has closed senior syndication of its $1.1bn loan, attracting seven participants, according to a banker close to the situation.

Goldman nabs senior BAML bankers — Credit Suisse fined $77m — StanChart names Singapore CEO — Ceinex makes progress with D-shares — Ambit hires ECM head

Analysts can sometimes find it hard to do due diligence on Chinese companies. The language barrier, local regulations and differences in accounting standards all need to be dealt with. They also need to consider the distinct possibility they are being fed a large helping of absolute piffle.

A NT$11.7bn ($382m) accelerated bookbuild in shares of Yageo lit up Taiwan’s equity capital market this week. Sole bookrunner BNP Paribas surprised rival bankers by winning the mandate, especially given how rare large and liquid Taiwanese fundraisings have been this year. John Loh reports.

In a sign of warming relations between China and Germany, regulators in China gave Deutsche Bank the licence to underwrite corporate bonds in the interbank market. But the bank has its sights set on a bigger prize — the right to joint lead underwrite Panda bonds for corporate issuers.

Lukewarm demand for recent floating rate notes, and their underperformance in the secondary market, has raised a key question for Asian issuers: are investors falling out of love with dollar floaters? Morgan Davis finds out.

Shifting market conditions have forced Yes Bank to pay up for a quick return to the dollar loan market, after it found it difficult to woo lenders to a similar — but tighter priced — offering earlier this year, writes Pan Yue.