China

The China Securities Regulatory Commission and Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission on Thursday approved a pilot programme for mutual stock market access between the exchanges in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The market response has been overwhelmingly positive, although there are still questions to answer, writes Clare Hammond.

Bank of China Sydney branch printed its inaugural dim sum on Wednesday, issuing Rmb2bn ($324m) for a two year deal that attracted strong demand from investors in Australia and New Zealand.

Final guidance is out for China Unicom (Hong Kong)'s debut dim sum deal, as the deal continues to amass orders. The book for the three year offering has now hit Rmb9bn, after kicking off on Thursday morning.

Bank of China launched a two year transaction into the dim sum market on Wednesday morning. The deal was driven by a need for renminbi by its Sydney branch and is expected to be upwards of Rmb1bn ($162m).

Renminbi clearing volumes at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Singapore branch had reached more than Rmb10tr as of April 8, according to the firm, which is the official RMB clearing bank in Singapore. Its general manager tells GlobalRMB that it is working on launching real-time gross settlement (RTGS) in the city-state, as well as developing other infrastructure.

Westpac has received approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) to set up a sub-branch in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ). The move is intended to extend Westpac’s offering in China, as the market opens up more to international capital.

Caterpillar priced an Rmb400m ($65m) tap of its 2016s on Monday night, with ANZ pricing the deal despite not acting as a bookrunner on the original transaction.

HSBC has promoted Candy Ho to be global head of RMB business development in the bank's markets division, expanding her responsibilities from just the Asia Pacific region, which she had overseen since March 2011.

China Unicom (Hong Kong) has established a new medium term note programme and mandated banks for a roadshow as it prepares to become the first Chinese telco to isser a offshore renminbi bond.

A partnership between Taiwan Depository & Clearing (TDCC), Euroclear and Citibank could help secondary liquidity in Taiwan’s Formosa bond market, say market participants.

The country’s A-share IPO market reopened in January after 15 months of suspension. But despite making promises of a free market, the China Securities Regulatory Commission quickly began to tinker with the process. Its interference is hindering the country’s equity market development.

Caterpillar is tapping its Rmb1.25bn ($202m) 2.95% 2016s, just under two months after the issuer printed the original bond on February 24.