Asia Pacific

Asia’s primary bond market has been deathly silent this week, slammed shut by a pair of public holidays and a gun-shy investor base. But borrowers continue to wait on the sidelines, ready to jump at any chance they can get.

A huge push is on to get capital markets to face up to climate change and start pricing in the risks. But there is a paradox: the more they get priced in, the harder it will get for those most vulnerable.

Car manufacturer Toyota’s Australian finance arm ended a 14 year hiatus from issuing bonds in sterling when it sold the first sterling corporate bond of the second half of 2018. The return of such an issuer will help fuel optimism that issuance in the currency in the second half of the year may help to redress the balance after one of the lowest volumes of first half issuance in the last decade.

One year since the launch of Bond Connect, central bank officials say increasing liquidity on the bond link and harmonising the scheme with other access programmes are the key tasks at hand.

The emergence of securitization deals equipped with international ratings are a sign that Bond Connect investors are aiming for variety beyond government bonds, a senior official at the Chinese central bank told GlobalRMB on Tuesday.

Indian companies Bharat Hotels and Chalet Hotels are preparing to go public, having filed draft prospectuses with the securities regulator.

Opera’s planned $115m Nasdaq IPO now has a cryptocurrency angle after Bitmain, a Chinese bitcoin miner, joined the deal as an anchor investor.

Hong Kong’s efforts to establish its position as a regional hub for technology companies are bearing fruit as IPO filings pile up. But the real measure of success will come after the summer, when the listings face a market saturated with new economy issuers.

TVS Logistics has attracted eight participants during the syndication of its latest dual-currency borrowing.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s offshore bond regulator, has described media reports claiming it would ban bonds with maturities of under one-year as “groundless”.

Pinduoduo, one of China’s hottest internet start-ups, has filed for a $1bn IPO in the US, upping the ante in an e-commerce landscape dominated by Alibaba Group.

Asia’s G3 bond market has been defined by volatility this year, forcing bankers, investors and issuers alike to think on their feet during the first half of 2018. As banks fight to stay on top of the limited primary market activity, the region’s league tables have been disrupted.