China

The RMB hub in Frankfurt could benefit from London’s loss of Euro-clearing privileges, but for now the focus remains on developing existing platforms including the ground-breaking Sino-German joint venture exchange, Jochen Metzger, director general for payments and settlement systems, Bundesbank, told GlobalRMB.

Peer-to-peer lender China Rapid Finance is vying for approval to float in the US, having filed preliminary documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

More details emerge on the seven new free trade zones (FTZs), State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe) releases more foreign investment quotas, and China responds to US executive orders on trade ahead of Xi Jinping’s meeting with Donald Trump on Thursday.

Shanghai Sinooil Energy Holding Hong Kong, a unit of China Energy Reserve and Chemicals Group, has had commitments from 23 banks during syndication of its debut $400m offshore loan.

Chinese iron and steel making conglomerate Hesteel Group Co has snapped up $500m on the back of a price rally in the steel sector onshore, with bankers praising the company’s efforts to woo accounts during a roadshow.

Renminbi’s share of international payments rises slightly in February, Liaoning free trade zone (FTZ) allows foreign investors to build renminbi pool, and the Chinese president Xi Jinping to meet with his US counterpart for the first time. Plus a recap of this week’s coverage.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) could soon be home to the A-shares of foreign companies. A decade old initiative to bring firms based in Shanghai’s Free Trade Zone (FTZ) into the A-share market has resurfaced and the first foreign stock could be up for grabs on the SSE within a year, writes Jonathan Breen.

The first quarter loan syndication numbers for Asia ex-Japan are out and they are not pretty, with volumes plummeting 50% year-on-year. But with some big M&A deals in the works, bankers are bullish about the second quarter and expectations are rising for more activity from China and India.

Asia ex-Japan G3 DCM volume reached a new high in the first quarter, with high yield names staging a resurgence. Chinese borrowers dominated the market, but given their deal timing is being tightly regulated, high yield credits from the rest of Asia are jumping into action, buoying sentiment for the next quarter. Addison Gong reports.

Tightening bank budgets may mean cutting back on business trips, but sometimes making those trips is the only way to get the full picture.

ICBC Financial Leasing Co brought home $2bn from its latest dual tranche deal on Wednesday, hitting its regulatory cap and meeting its pricing goals.

Renminbi internationalisation is back on the table after People’s Bank of China (PBoC) signalled actions to increase the currency’s offshore usage in 2017. But the process will be slow, experts warn, given the upcoming 19th Party Congress and demand to limit capital outflows.