Australia

ANZ is relocating a senior leveraged and acquisition finance banker and former head of Asia loan syndications from Singapore to Sydney.

With covered bond spreads likely to go wider, ANZ’s decision to take as much size from the market as possible was logical. The short and rare four year tenor was instrumental in boosting appeal for the bond issue, but it also helped that the issuer took the trouble to engage with investors with a roadshow beforehand.

Coal producer Yancoal will start bookbuilding early next week for a Hong Kong IPO, making it the first Australian-listed company to have a dual listing in Hong Kong, according to a banker close to the deal.

In this round-up, Chinese president Xi Jinping promises more support for the private sector, Australia’s state of Victoria becomes the first in the country to support the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and Xi and US president Donald Trump discuss trade on a phone call ahead of their meeting at the G20 later this month.

China Merchants Loscam has closed a $302m dual-currency club loan, making a comeback to the offshore market after a five-year absence.

In this round up, Eastspring Investment Management can now offer onshore investment products to Chinese customers, SWIFT Business Intelligence outlines Australia’s role in renminbi internationalisation, and Industrial Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) gets approval from the European central Bank to set up a subsidiary in Austria.

An A$500m ($355m) Kangaroo bond from the Export-Import Bank of Korea on Tuesday reaffirmed Australian dollar investors’ appetite for high quality credits from South Korea, amid a fall in global issuance volume in the currency this year.

Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten (BNG) is keeping a close tab on the Kangaroo bond market, following the sale of a curve-extending euro bond this week that is likely to complete the issuer’s benchmark funding for 2018.

Korea Development Bank hopped into the Australian dollar market on October 12, selling an A$400m ($284m) Kangaroo bond. Despite the volatility in the market earlier in the week, KDB had little trouble sealing the popular deal.

A dearth of corporate bond supply on Wednesday, due to a German public holiday, was followed by deals from airport operators in two markets on Thursday. Aéroports de Paris (AdP) opted for the domestic route, while Heathrow made its first visit to the Australian market.

JP Morgan has begun an agency clearing service for Australian and New Zealand dollar denominated over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, becoming the first OTC clearing participant on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) to do so.

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.