Banks

Jacques Callaghan, formerly of Macquarie Capital, has joined HSBC as head of UK mid-market M&A, concentrating on a wedge of companies that are important to the bank’s new strategy.

Citi has promoted Prosenjit Saha as head of loan sales for Asia Pacific, a newly created position at the bank.

The Asian dollar bond market is set for a quiet week for issuance because of public holidays across a number of countries and as investors continue to battle volatility induced by Covid-19 and renewed US-China trade tensions.

Citi has made two senior appointments to its corporate banking business in Asia Pacific.

Luxshare Precision, a Chinese designer of cable assemblies, has launched a $500m loan into syndication, hiking up the margin on offer due to changing market conditions caused by Covid-19.

Central China New Life, a property management company, has launched marketing for its Hong Kong IPO as it aims to raise up to HK$2.16bn ($278.6m). The Mainland-based firm has begun virtual meetings with investors as the threat of Covid-19 continues to prevent any hopes of physical meetings.

The UK Municipal Bonds Agency has announced the two first councils that will take part in its pooled issuance scheme, although the bonds themselves may well not be issued before the summer.

Barclays topped off a record-breaking quarter for its markets division by tapping the dollar market for $1.75bn this week, amid red-hot funding conditions underpinned by soothing words from US Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell.

Lloyds Bank has got most of its covered bond and senior funding out of the way already this year — ideal, given the threat of the coronavirus pandemic to both bond markets and the wider economy. But the bank has also been busy optimising its capital stack, which should support its lending just when it is most needed.

The UK Debt Management Office has chosen the banks to lead what will be the first of an unprecedented two syndicated offerings in a single calendar month as it prepares to finance a substantial increase in its borrowing requirements.

Rabobank exercised a call option on one of its outstanding additional tier ones this week, with market participants expecting redemption to become the rule rather than the exception during the coronavirus crisis.

Empresa de Transporte de Pasajeros Metro (Metro) could become the second Chilean government-linked issuer to offer bonds in the international market in less than a week, as investors say that the corporate market is likely to remain the preserve of the best-rated issuers.