Greater China

The Hong Kong securities watchdog has banned former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner from working in the city’s financial industry ever again for his involvement in the 1MDB multi-billion-dollar money laundering scheme.

Credit Suisse has poached UBS research veteran Erica Poon Werkun to head equity research for Asia Pacific, according to an internal memo seen by GlobalCapital Asia.

Tsinghua Tongfang Co has priced a smaller $300m deal, as investors appeared cautious amid an ongoing share sale. Yuzhou Properties and Shandong Guohui Investment Co returned to the market and saw big order books, the latter fueled by lead manager interest.

China’s Edvantage Group opened books for a HK$805m ($103m) float on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) on Wednesday.

The G20 meeting in Japan ended as well as those in markets could have expected. The US and China may have agreed to delay additional tariffs against the other but none were removed either. Investors are beginning to plan for a more sustained period of hostility between the two countries.

Bank of America has appointed former Asia capital markets head Peter Guenthardt as co-head of Asia Pacific investment banking, according to an internal memo seen by GlobalCapital Asia.

Standby letters of credit in Asia have come into the spotlight after China Construction Bank paid off bondholders on behalf of China Minsheng Investment Group (CMIG), marking the first time this structure has been tested.

The much anticipated G20 meeting between Chinese president Xi Jinping and US president Donald Trump in Osaka brought good news to Huawei, US farmers, US high tech companies, and Chinese stock markets. However, key conflicts remain unsolved.

Hutchison Healthcare Holdings has taken home $288m from an enlarged sell-down of shares in Hutchison China MediTech (Chi-Med).

Budweiser Brewing Company Apac has kicked off the roadshow for its up to HK$76.4bn ($9.8bn) Hong Kong listing, on track to be the city’s largest IPO in nearly a decade and the world’s biggest flotation so far this year.

Chinese private higher education provider Edvantge is planning to raise up to $100m from a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with bookbuilding set to open on Wednesday.

In this round-up, China names a new central bank monetary policy committee member, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) and China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) jointly issued the first white paper for small and micro enterprises, and the state council reckons more measures are needed for these businesses.