Asia Pacific

More widespread use of the International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights could prevent a currency war, Thierry de Longuemar, chief financial officer at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), said on May 4. But the treasurer got little sympathy from other experts at the Asian Development Bank’s meeting.

Indomobil Finance Indonesia has returned to the offshore loan market for a new $100m borrowing, according to a banker invited to participate in the deal.

China's Ascletis Pharma has emerged as the first biotechnology firm to test the waters of Hong Kong’s new listing regime, after filing a draft prospectus on Monday.

Barclays has named veteran prime broker and ex-Credit Suisse executive Matt Pecot as head of equities for Asia Pacific.

Nomura appointed Ting Lu, a former research head at Huatai Securities, as its chief China economist on Tuesday.

Kangde Xin Composite Material Group has made its debut in the offshore loan market, launching a $200m three year deal into syndication.

Green bonds have become one of the hottest topics in finance, taking their place alongside project finance and China’s Belt and Road as the necessary buzzwords on every investor’s lips. But green financing is more than just a passing fad for Japan’s strongest issuers. In a market defined by a famously rigid investor base, they are attempting to build a market that can be sustainable in every sense of the word. GlobalCapital sat down with some of Japan’s leading issuers, analysts, bankers and policy bankers to discuss where green and social financing is heading.

It might be easy to imagine that Japan’s top credits have an easy time accessing the international bond market. Compared to high yield or debut issuers, that may be so. But a strong rating and an important role in public policy bring with them certain responsibilities — not least of which is keeping funding costs down. The rise in dollar interest rates, and the volatility that is sure to result, thus represents a conundrum for these issuers. What is the right price for a dollar bond? What is the correct attitude to maturity adjustment? GlobalCapital asked these and other questions during a roundtable discussion that took place in Tokyo shortly before the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2018.

Japanese investors’ desperation to boost their yields is helping them shed an ultra-conservative image that has long defined them. The move is overdue but as more international borrowers turn to the yen markets for funding, the increasing flexibility of the buy-side is helping to usher in new structures and international standards. Rashmi Kumar reports.

Japanese issuers are tapping the international bond market in droves, pushing volumes to a record in 2017. The market is set to get a further boost this year, as more corporations enter the fray. Rashmi Kumar reports.

Real estate developer Vinhomes priced its D30.7tr ($1.35bn) listing at the top of guidance on Monday in Vietnam’s largest equity offering to date, according to a banker on the transaction.

Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE Corp, which has failed to comply with a covenant on a $450m syndicated loan due in July, has requested lenders to waive the breach, according to bankers close to the situation.