Bank of America

Sentiment surrounding Korean bank capital transactions is high following Hana Bank’s sucessful Basel III tier two last week. Trying to ride that wave of optimism is Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), which opened books to its own tier two bond on October 7.

Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) is looking to become the third Korean lender to tap the dollar market with a tier two bond, mandating four banks to handle the transaction.

Bank of America Merill Lynch has promoted Richard Yacenda as its new country executive for Hong Kong, replacing Jayanti Bajpai who left for London earlier in the year, according to a memo seen by GlobalCapital Asia.

Four issuers launched covered bonds from Germany, Sweden, Norway and Austria this week. The transactions were all well subscribed and priced tightly but the greatest degree of price tension was seen in deals that are expected to be eligible for the European Central Bank’s purchase programme.

The lack of a securities lending market for green bonds could be stifling the ability of banks to make markets in the product, leaving the buyside struggling to pick up paper in secondaries, a leading investor told GlobalCapital this week. But on the primary side, green demand grows ever healthier, with another set of firsts from public sector borrowers on the way.

Bayer, the German pharmaceutical and chemical company, braved the toughest credit market conditions of 2014 this week to complete its biggest bond deal, as investors lost their appetite for risk.

Abengoa, the Spanish renewable energy and engineering firm, has allocated a €1.4bn refinancing loan, after issuing a €500m green bond last week.

Malaysia’s RHB Bank returned to the dollar bond market by pricing a $300m five year on September 29 following a two year absence. The decision to tap the market during a volatile week was a surprise to many, but the bank was still able to meet its aggressive target.

CGN Power is set to tap the market in the wake of the successful pricing of a Hong Kong IPO for its subsidiary CGN Meiya Power Holdings. The company has started investor education ahead of a planned $2bn listing.

Malaysian lender RHB Bank is back in the dollar market following a two year absence, opening books to a $300m bond on September 29.

US investment grade bond investors drove demand for Mexican retailer Puerto de Liverpool’s debut international bond issue on Thursday, said bankers close to the deal. This helped the borrower to raise $300m on what one DCM banker called the worst day of trading of the year so far.

With CGN Meiya Power Holdings finishing its Hong Kong IPO this week, parent CGN Power is now set to tap the market. The company has started investor education ahead of a planned $2bn listing.