Greater China

Boutique investment bank SC Lowy signalled the potential it sees in the Italian banking sector through its acquisition of Credito di Romagna this week. Michel Löwy, CEO of the firm, also views it as a way to expand the firm’s European leveraged finance operations.

Chinese investment banking giant CICC returned to the dollar bond market this week, raising $600m from its first deal in almost two years.

Deutsche Bank has appointed Beng-Hong Lee to the newly created position of head of institutional client group for China.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Nomura and UBS have made senior changes in their equity capital markets and syndicate teams in Asia.

Several Chinese real estate companies, including Sunac China Holdings and Central China Real Estate, took advantage of relatively stable markets to ride the dollar issuance momentum this week. But supply pressure meant that many saw their bonds then trade under water.

Guangzhou Industrial Investment Fund Management Co locked up a $500m short-dated trade on Wednesday, attracting investors thanks to its investment grade credentials.

Deutsche Bank has appointed Beng-Hong Lee to the newly created position of head of institutional client group, China, according to an internal memo seen by GlobalCapital Asia.

Dong Yin Development, a unit of China Orient Asset Management Co, has closed its $100m three year loan with close to 10 Taiwanese and Chinese participants, said sources close to the deal.

China’s Guangzhou R&F Properties Co, the once troubled China Hongqiao Group and a local government-owned entity in Xinjiang all managed to pull off new dollar bonds on Tuesday, albeit with some difficulty.

United Overseas Bank’s subsidiary in China has printed its first bond in the country, a Rmb1bn ($159m) three year note. The Singaporean lender joins a small group of foreign financial institutions that have raised onshore funding through their China arms.

China’s cautious approach to credit default swaps (CDS) has left the market a minnow compared with other large financial systems. Paolo Danese investigates.

Ping An Healthcare and Technology Co, a subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate Ping An Group, will launch bookbuilding for its Hong Kong IPO next week, according to a source close to the deal.