China

Jiangsu Hanrui Investment Holdings defied the quietness in Asia’s primary capital markets on Thursday with a rare high yield bond from a local government financing vehicle. Although market observers welcome growth in the new asset class, some are cautious about the standalone credit strength of smaller LGFVs.

Hengdeli Holdings and eSun Holdings have announced the results of their respective tender offers for international bonds.

The People’s Bank of China said on Tuesday it is contemplating the ‘orderly participation’ of commercial banks to trade in the offshore renminbi market. On paper, the proposed move seems to be a further opening up of its FX market. However, market participants say Beijing’s true aim is to exert greater influence on the CNH and maintain the stability of the renminbi.

I can think of some bulge bracket MDs who I’m sure have dreamt of dishing out a spot of corporal punishment to discipline wayward juniors. For them, however, the idea is just that — an idea that would never see the light of day.

CP Pokphand, part of Thai firm Charoen Pokphand Group, has raised a $600m loan to repay outstanding debt.

Poland is looking to join the club of Panda bond issuers, having signed up Bank of China to lead its transaction. But the sovereign plans to swap the renminbi proceeds back into euros as it has little need for the Chinese currency.

Markets watchers in Asia said they were optimistic, as GlobalCapital Asia went to press on Thursday, that next week would be a return to business as usual, given their widespread expectations that the UK would choose to remain in the European Union. But some warned that, irrespective of the outcome, currency risks could spill over to other asset classes, adversely affecting bonds and equities.

The People’s Bank of China put a new idea in front of market watchers this week – Chinese depositary receipts. While the plan is far from concrete and there are few assurances it will take off, listings of foreign companies on the Mainland would be a historic, and tantalising, prospect. John Loh reports.

China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe) has expanded a pilot renminbi conversion scheme to all non-financial companies, allowing them to repatriate offshore bond proceeds. This will help reduce confusion over different rules from different regulators and boost direct offshore bond issuance, said market participants.

The Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX) and Thomson Reuters (TR) launched on June 23 a new series of indices to track movements of the RMB against a basket of currencies.

China’s non-performing loans securitization market is quickly taking shape with China Merchants Bank set to launch the asset class’s third transaction following its restart last month. And the upcoming trade features a new type of underlying assets – micro loans.

A $12.7bn Asia-focused loan for China National Chemical Corp’s acquisition of Swiss firm Syngenta is expected to enter the second phase of syndication as early as next week.