China

ICBC has established the first round-the-clock RMB clearing facility in its Singapore branch, the bank said in an August 4 statement.

Peking University Founder Group (Founder Group) made a quick return to the offshore bond market on August 3 with a $185m tap to its maiden issue from May.

China Auto Rental (CAR) pulled off a second successful foray in the US dollar bond market, raising $300m after tightening pricing by nearly 40bp on the back of strong demand.

Two Formosa debuts from Korea Development Bank (KDB) and Citi have added to the flurry of issues in Taiwan's offshore renminbi bond market, taking volumes this year to Rmb28.2bn ($4.5bn), compared with Rmb20.8bn for the whole of 2014.

China Construction Bank (CCB) London branch is set to offer its debut multi-currency certificates of deposit (CDs) in the next few weeks. Jinming Hu, co-head of Treasury at CCB London Branch, told GlobalRMB that they would include renminbi-denominated offerings.

Increasing volatility correlation across different asset classes could be an early warning sign of a financial crisis, some investors and strategists have warned, even though options prices have yet to convey any panic.

Korea Development Bank has opened books for an offshore renminbi offering that will be dual listed in Singapore and Taipei, marking the first such deal for the issuer and only the third one ever from a South Korean name.

Greentown China Holdings successfully persuaded bondholders of its two existing dollar notes into a new $500m five year non call three dollar bond on July 31. Bankers on the deal say the exchange offer ended up satisfying both the issuer and investors.

Asia’s US dollar bond market has started the week with a bang, with China Auto Rental (CAR), Peking University Founder Group and Shanghai Electric opening books for their respective transactions on Monday, August 3.

Weak Chinese PMI data and lower repo fixings have supported receiving interest in short CNY swaps and a steeper curve on Monday. Market participants expect the steepening trend to continue in the near-term, with 30bp in 2s/5s NDIRS considered a key level, writes Deirdre Yeung of Total Derivatives.

Zurich-based Swiss Reinsurance Company (Swiss Re) received the first quota in the RMB qualified foreign institutional investors (RQFII) programme among Swiss asset managers on July 29, according to the latest data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe).

A three-day slide in China's A-share market that included the biggest one-day percentage drop in more than eight years on July 27 has led to domestic critics pointing the finger at overseas investors. Mark Boleat, policy chairman at the City of London Corporation, has a different take. He says China needs foreign participation in its markets to ensure its goal of RMB internationalisation is successful.