China

Over a dozen banks have committed to join China Universal Leasing’s Rmb1bn ($150.5m) onshore loan.

Wuhan Metro Group and Zhuzhou City Construction are set to become the latest Chinese local financing vehicles (LGFVs) to sell international bonds.

The chances of an off-cycle decision for A-shares to be included in MSCI’s Emerging Markets Index has increased after the index provider launched 20 new China equity indices on September 29 and praised Beijing’s recent reform efforts.

China is where it's at in green finance in 2016. Its brand new domestic green bond market has zoomed to be the world's biggest in no time, and it has become the first country to produce a comprehensive plan for greening all aspects of finance. Mutual investment between China and the West is set to rise, though some have qualms about funding 'clean coal', reports Julian Lewis.

In this round-up, the European Central Bank renews its RMB swap line, Swiss Re increases its RMB qualified foreign institutional investors (RQFII) quota, and CLS facilitates netting for RMB foreign exchange transactions. Plus, a recap of our coverage this week.

China Citic Bank International bucked concerns about the health of the European banking industry, driven by Deutsche Bank’s financial troubles, to seal a $500m additional tier one on Thursday.

Institutions have spent months preparing for the launch of the new IMF special drawing rights (SDR) basket on October 1 since the decision to include the RMB was made last year. The mechanics include managing divergent onshore and offshore rates, Jukka Pihlman, global head of central banks and sovereign funds, Standard Chartered, and former IMF official, told GlobalRMB.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs are taking a knife to their Asian investment banking operations amid slower capital markets activity and as competition from Chinese lenders intensifies. This is just the latest in a series of culls in Asia as global banks struggle to find a suitable model. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

Five banks have clubbed together to supply a $300m three year term loan to Hong Kong-listed company Sino Biopharmaceutical.

A number of Asian borrowers are choosing to prepay their syndicated loans for various reasons, including a bearish outlook on growth. Their actions are compounding the woes of loan syndications bankers, who are already battling low deal activity, writes Shruti Chaturvedi.

China’s Panda bond market is gaining traction with the National Bank of Canada (NBC) establishing a Rmb5bn ($750m) programme, becoming only the second issuer from the country to seek onshore renminbi.

It has been a busy period for the structured finance community in China with three lenders securitizing a combined Rmb3.28bn ($491m) worth of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the space of a week.