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Three CEEMEA bonds printed last week with zero or very low new issue premiums — the first time any bond from the region has issued so tightly since November. But though the market is great for certain borrowers, the good results are only a sign that investors have become as selective as the most self-important of bouncers. They are short of paper they positively want, rather than willing to buy across the board

After a heady period of expansion, CIMB Bank’s merger and acquisition spree appears to be coming undone. The Malaysian bank is aggressively slashing costs and reducing its headcount. But those vilifying its expansion strategy are missing the big picture. Having established an impressive foothold outside its home base, CIMB should not give up on its regional ambitions now.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently introduced rules preventing foreign investors from buying short dated debt, which the central bank hopes will encourage long term investment in Indian securities. With memories of large foreign outflows still fresh in the minds of Indians, the rule changes are a wise move towards preventing possible hot money from hurting its markets in the long run.

The Asian high yield market seemed to have finally got going in late January, with a parade of borrowers successfully pricing bonds. But the apparent failure of trades from two southeast Asian credits has taken its toll, shutting the market to further deals. With conditions already difficult, leads should act more responsibly — and say whether the bonds are going ahead or not.

There has been much excitement this week about corporate bonds starting to trade at negative yields, in the pressure cooker of Europe's bond market where European Central Bank president, Mario Draghi has just turned the dial up to 10.

A raft of requests for proposals by India state owned companies at the beginning of this year has livened up the loan market, but bankers believe the real opportunity lies in funding privately-owned Indian corporates. Liquidity that was not available earlier to these companies is now theirs to tap into as banks hunt for better returns and India’s macro picture improves, writes Shruti Chaturvedi.

The success this week of 2015’s first high yield property bond from China has sparked talk of a post-Chinese New Year comeback for the much maligned sector. While this bodes well for the Chinese, the opposite holds true for southeast Asian issuers, which had stepped up to fill the gap, writes Rev Hui.

China is considering overhauling regulation of foreign investment into the country. It could tighten the screws on foreign ownership of its booming technology sector and steer more Chinese firms toward dual class shareholdings, if it approves a draft law that addresses the use of the variable interest entity (VIE), writes John Loh.

I don’t tend to get too involved in the nuts and bolts of the deals in the market but while scrolling through this esteemed magazine’s website I was struck by the new bond deals from Tower Bersama and Tencent.

Barclays is seeking a stronger footing in Asia Pacific ECM, with the creation of a new role of head of blocks origination. The bank has struggled to make headway in terms of market share in the region, but its strong Japanese franchise, accompanied by its new emphasis on the more profitable blocks business, shows the firm is moving in the right direction, reports Rashmi Kumar.

A 367 day loan? Could that have been designed to tick a regulatory box? Of course it could. But don’t scoff — banks have always gone right up to the line of compliance — and they always will.

The CEEMEA bond market has only one new issue to keep it occupied this week — a five year dollar bond from National Bank of Abu Dhabi. But exchange and consent offers are keeping DCM bankers busy.