Greater China

China’s ZhongAn Online Property and Casualty Insurance Co has taken a formal step towards listing in Hong Kong, filing a draft prospectus for an IPO that could raise at least $1bn, according to bankers familiar with the matter.

Standard Chartered’s head of capital markets for Greater China and north Asia has retired from the bank, according to multiple sources.

Guangdong Hengjian Investment Holding is marketing its debut dollar bond while Bank of China's Hong Kong branch is taking bids for a dual tranche floating rate transaction.

Investors accessing China’s interbank bond market (CIBM) using CIBM Direct will not be barred from using Bond Connect, the deputy governor of People’s Bank of China (PBoC), Pan Gongsheng, said at the Bond Connect launch ceremony on July 3.

The Bank of East Asia has received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to establish a joint venture securities company in Shenzhen.

International banks were up and running on the new Bond Connect scheme minutes after it opened for business at 9am on Monday. But analysts think it is unlikely the bond link will start with a bang.

In this week’s round-up, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) considers launching A-share related derivatives in Hong Kong after MSCI’s inclusion, Citi launches two onshore bond indices, and the Chinese premier says M&A by foreign companies is welcome in the Mainland.

HSBC has received approval from China Securities Regulatory Commission to set up a majority-owned joint venture securities company — HSBC Qianhai Securities — in the Mainland. The regulatory clearance comes about a year-and-a-half after the UK lender announced the JV.

Chinese commercial lender Zhongyuan Bank has opened the books on its HK$8.34bn ($1.1bn) IPO after securing commitments from three cornerstone investors for about half the deal.

Inner Mongolia Energy Engineering Co plans to launch bookbuilding for its Hong Kong IPO on Monday, and could bag up to HK$1.23bn ($157.6m).

Global gaming company Razer is planning to list in Hong Kong, and has filed a draft prospectus with the city’s stock exchange.

Modern Land (China) Co grabbed $130m from its green bond on Thursday, but the pricing of the notes did not move throughout bookbuilding as investors were less than impressed with the high yield credit.