Asia Pacific

Morgan Stanley was sole bookrunner on two overnight sell-downs in Asia this week. One transaction was for its Taiwanese private equity arm in shares of CTBC Financial Holdings.

Indonesia’s Soechi Lines finally succeeded in selling a dollar bond this week, after multiple attempts to grab international investors’ attention.

China Shipbuilding Industry Corp (CSIC) bagged $1bn on Wednesday from an exchangeable bond linked to Postal Savings Bank of China’s stock, which has rallied this year. But the deal was more than just an opportunistic trade — it used a relatively rare structure in the equity-linked market, writes Jonathan Breen.

Hong Kong’s stock market is in the grip of another euphoria-driven rally, with the Hang Seng Index smashing record after record this week. As Chinese investors pile into equities, parallels are being drawn to 2015, when a similar China-led bubble ended in tears. But this time is different, say market watchers. John Loh reports.

South Korea’s Hankook Tire Co grabbed $300m on the back of an impressive $2.3bn book on Wednesday in its debut international bond outing.

Chinese state-owned Beijing Capital Group used a tried-and-tested approach for its bond return, replicating the structure of its debut deal a year ago. But its trade impressed nevertheless, priced with a negative new issue concession.

A $310m two-part borrowing to support Malaysian surgical glove maker Top Glove Corp’s acquisition of Aspion has received two commitments.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has agreed to strengthen financial markets cooperation with Switzerland's finance ministry, an effort that will encompass pushing forward China's RMB internationalisation agenda.

Standard Chartered has appointed Lucy Taylor-Smith as global head of strategy, it said in a release on Wednesday.

China Resources Land is coming back to the Panda market with a Rmb6bn ($941.6m) three year deal.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Akram Zaman is returning to the US after a three year stint in Asia to head the equity syndicate desk in New York, according to sources.

UBS has made senior level changes to its Asia Pacific M&A and natural resources teams in a bid to boost its market position and client coverage.