Greater China

Citi is planning to add at least 25 bankers to its Belt and Road coverage team over the next couple of years, amid a pick-up in interest from clients.

A long awaited framework for Panda bond issuers is likely to be finalised by the People’s Bank of China by the end of the year, GlobalRMB has learned.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is set to become the first Mainland bank to sell a green bond aligned with both international standards and China’s framework.

Four firms from Asia ex-Japan are taking bids for their dollar bonds, including Lionbridge Capital Co, Nan Hai Corp, Overseas Chinese Town Enterprises Company as well as Malaysia’s Yinson Holdings.

The National Bank of Canada (NBC) has raised Rmb600m ($90.3m) from a three year bond on September 28, becoming the second Canadian issuer to hit the dim sum market in two weeks.

The renminbi held its spot as the world’s fifth most active payments currency in August, according to Swift’s RMB tracker. The news came just a day after Swift said it will start displaying China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System’s (Cips) data on its system.

Nomura’s John Goff is adding the positions of head of global finance for Asia ex-Japan and acting head of DCM Asia ex-Japan to his job description.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) is to start offering iron ore futures contracts from November.

Singapore-based V3 Group, which operates in the luxury lifestyle and wellness markets, began pre-marketing a potential $400m Hong Kong IPO this week, said a banker close to the deal.

Far East Horizon has returned to the international loan market after a gap of two years for a $500m deal, and is paying a margin that is about half of what it offered last time.

US investors led the charge to CK Hutchison Holdings’ triple-tranche bond on Tuesday, with their strong, and unexpected, support pushing the final deal size beyond the issuer’s expectations.

Indonesian company Asia Pulp & Paper’s high profile default 16 years ago appears to be still fresh in the minds of investors. Its unit APP China Group sealed a modest $150m bond on Tuesday, but had to entice the buy-side with a juicy yield and a short tenor.