China

Qihoo 360 Technology is raising a $3.4bn equivalent renminbi loan to back its delisting from the New York Stock Exchange, picking China Merchants Bank to supply the funds.

China took its first step towards fulfilling its green ambitions this week, announcing a set of guidelines for the issuance of green bonds in the country’s interbank bond market.

The Republic of the Philippines is interested in selling a Panda bond in China's onshore debt market for the first time in 2016.

Throughout my career I have been fortunate enough to learn from real experiences, whether from the challenges of the financial crisis or being at the centre of the great phenomenon that is the rise of China and its currency.

Four Panda bonds have been issued since China reopened the market in the end of September. While this is a great start, Pandas will need a lot more issuance and a matching mature investor base to go further in 2016, said Tu Hong, general manager of global markets centre, at Bank of Communications to GlobalRMB.

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is working with Chinese authorities on the possibility of London-listed RMB-denominated shares, most likely in the form of global depositary receipts (GDRs), Jon Edwards, head of primary markets, Greater China, LSE, told GlobalRMB.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Europe) has received approval from the Luxembourg regulator for its ICBC Credit Suisse S&P China 500 Index Fund this week. The fund is the first Ucits product using Luxembourg’s own quote under the RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) scheme.

In the last RMB round-up of 2015, HSBC became the first foreign bank to issue RMB-denominated CDs to corporates in China, Hungary plans RMB bonds in 2016 and Russian bank VTB saw a big boost to its RMB business in 2015. Plus, a recap of GlobalRMB’s top stories this week.

Asia’s equity capital market is beginning to wind down after enduring its most difficult period in years. As bankers turn the page on 2015 and some high profile trades get lined up for next year, market watchers are hoping that things won’t be so volatile in 2016. John Loh reports.

Fosun Group has hit the limelight following the disappearance and re-appearance of its co-founder chairman Guo Guangchang, who is understood to be assisting Chinese authorities with an investigation. The news has delayed an ongoing syndicated loan for an affiliated company and has prompted bankers to say they will take a more cautious approach towards privately owned Chinese borrowers. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

More cross-border RMB activities can be expected as the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has approved Rmb50bn ($774m) of RQFII quota to Thailand, and agreed with Russia to deepen bilateral financial co-operations, including facilitating the Russian government to issue Panda bond in China.

Bank of Zhengzhou has raised HK$5.08bn ($656m) via its Hong Kong IPO after pricing at the floor of its range on Wednesday.