Banks

China Evergrande Group’s $1.8bn return to the bond market this week split opinion. The ultra-high yield deal, which sent the company’s secondary bonds spiralling, was largely sold to Evergrande’s chairman — a move that attracted a mix of outrage and admiration. Morgan Davis reports.

A stunning rally in Innovent Biologics caught the market’s attention this week, after the shares surged as much as 46% following their debut in Hong Kong on Wednesday. But whether it marks a turning point for the city’s biotechnology listings — which have performed dismally in the secondary market so far — is less clear, writes John Loh.

Mirae Asset Daewoo Co became the first securities firm from South Korea to tap the international bond market this week, when it issued $300m on Wednesday.

Indonesia’s Pertamina made a quick comeback to the debt market on Wednesday, selling a 30 year bond just days after terminating a tender offer.

Agricultural Bank of China's Hong Kong branch became one of only two issuers to print floating rate notes (FRNs) in October, raising $800m on Wednesday.

Sujata Bhattacharjee has returned to BNP Paribas’ loans team after a short stint at Indian investment firm 1Crowd.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has promoted Jessica Li to head of healthcare investment banking for Asia.

Swedish Export Credit Corporation was set to price a $1bn no-grow three year global benchmark as GlobalCapital went to press on Wednesday, as the last bits of dollar supply came before an expected shutdown next week for the US mid-term elections.

Northern Gas Networks (NGN), the UK gas distribution company headquartered in Yorkshire, has sold £200m of US private placements notes, pricing at a tighter margin than what it could achieved from a sterling bond, said a US PP market participant.

The Netherlands plans to join the burgeoning list of sovereign green bond issuers and could become the first triple-A rated country in the group. Whether the bond will be via syndication or the country's preferred auction method has yet to be decided. Meanwhile, two of the country’s public sector SRI borrowers were busy in the format this week.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited has mandated leads for a roadshow with a view to issuing a covered bond, or senior unsecured transaction, or both. In the meantime, primary market activity is expected to slow this week and next allowing time for the recent slate of deals to be digested and for market sentiment to improve.

BNP Paribas’s latest restructuring makes it look more like its US universal banking rivals. Now it needs to figure out how to match them in the rankings, writes David Rothnie.