China

Bankers expect the next auction of offshore RMB bonds in Hong Kong by China's Ministry of Finance (MoF) to come on Thursday, with analysts predicting a bumper response, particularly in the short dated tranches. Earlier this month the MoF said that the Rmb12bn ($1.9bn) sale, its second auction of the year, would come in the week of November 17.

Whether because of delays or last-minute decisions, naysayers of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect have had a field day berating it as little more than a half-hearted exercise. But such an ambitious task was never going to be without its problems. More credit should be given to what’s already been achieved.

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on November 17 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish official renminbi clearing arrangements in Australia. The country was also awarded a Rmb50bn ($8.1bn) quota for the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) scheme and a clearing bank is on the cards soon.

Its recent return to the offshore renminbi bond market and its new status as Canada's hub for RMB trade settlement have seen the Province of British Columbia (BC) reinforce its commitment to China and its support for the RMB as a global currency, Michael de Jong, BC’s Minister of Finance, has told GlobalRMB during a visit to Hong Kong.

Shanghai Huayi Company, is due to kick off three-day investor meetings this week in Asia and Europe for its inaugural dollar bond issue. It joins the growing list of provincial SOEs that coming to the offshore debt market.

Northbound trades on the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect hit their daily quota before 2pm on its maiden trading day, in a blowout success for at least one half of the landmark trading link.

The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, which goes live on Monday, is temporarily waiving taxes on capital gains for users of the landmark trading scheme, although dividends will be levied a 10% tax.

The CNH market got a welcome dash of diversification on November 13 with India’s ICICI Bank making a rare appearance in that currency via a three year bond. The variety that ICICI brought to the market, coupled with an abundance in liquidity, meant the issuer was able to raise capital at a favourable funding level.

Philippines’ Security Bank Corporation is due to hold investor meetings next week for its debut dollar bond, the lender’s first move to tap into broader capital market in dollars.

Offshore renminbi bonds sprang back into life this week, with a rush of deals hitting the market. While the frantic pace of issuance is unlikely to last until the end of the year, the pick-up shows the CNH market is developing fast and sets the scene for a stronger 2015, writes Rev Hui.

The long-delayed Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect (SHKSC) will finally get off the ground next week, with trading set to begin on November 17, opening the floodgates to China’s $3.9tr A-share market.

China High Speed Transmission (CHST) Equipment Group tapped into the dim sum market for the first time on November 12, raising more than it was targeting, with a Rmb650m ($106m) trade.