Greater China

The onshore subsidiary of HSBC priced a Rmb2bn ($305m) bond on September 12 targeting Bond Connect investors, a deal that could draw more attention to onshore issuance by foreign companies using local entities instead of choosing the Panda route.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe)’s deputy head says the onshore and offshore renminbi markets should merge, AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) launches a new strategy to buy short dated onshore RMB bonds, and the ex-boss of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) suggests Hong Kong-listed stocks should trade in renminbi.

A slew of Chinese firms are making their debuts in the offshore loan market, with the pricing on offer reflecting a borrower base that is increasingly confident and savvy when negotiating terms with lenders, writes Shruti Chaturvedi.

The $1.5bn Hong Kong IPO of Chinese insurtech firm ZhongAn Online Property and Casualty Insurance Co is set to be a splashy affair, with the punchy valuations on offer stirring debate among ECM bankers. But the leads are already predicting a successful outcome. John Loh and Jonathan Breen report.

RYB Education’s IPO on the New York Stock Exchange is off to a strong start, with the $140m deal covered on the first day of bookbuilding.

Bank of China Hong Kong has sold its second Panda bond, raising a staggering Rmb9bn ($1.37bn) from a one year note. The transaction was the largest Panda sold in the interbank bond market, and caught the attention of foreign investors, which made 50% of all bids.

Qatar National Bank has secured $630m with a structured Formosa bond to prove it is still able to access funding despite the sensitives surrounding the Qatar crisis.

Wynn Macau raised $1.35bn from the bond market on Wednesday, finding support from both Asian and US investors thanks to a turnaround story in the Macau gaming industry and the issuer’s improved financials.

CSI Properties printed a $200m bond on Wednesday for refinancing purposes. The leads were not short on comparables given that several of the issuer’s developer peers have sealed similar transactions so far in 2017.

Chinese retailer Red Star Macalline Group Corp launched its dollar debut on Thursday, about five months after mandating banks for the deal.

Postal Savings Bank of China Co has mandated 21 banks to work on a dollar AT1 transaction worth up to Rmb50bn ($7.4bn), expected to hit the market as early as next week.

Ample demand allowed Bank of Qingdao to price its inaugural additional tier one dollar bond tightly on Tuesday. The deal stood out because of the bigger participation from non-Chinese investors — something that bodes well for the hefty AT1 pipeline.