Greater China

Japan’s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp has raised W177bn ($154.6m) from the sale of some of its shares in Posco — the third sell-down of its stake in the South Korean steelmaker this year.

Three Chinese corporates hit the debt market on Thursday on a busy day of issuance in Asia. Beijing Capital Development Holdings (Group), Golden Wheel Tiandi Holdings Company and a financing vehicle from Guangxi raised a combined $900m from deals.

Two FIG names were among the seven issuers vying for funds on Thursday with Bank of East Asia and Sirius International both pricing new trades. And the hectic schedule of the last few weeks is unlikely to slow down in November.

Huarong International Financial Holdings has signed a dual-tranche loan at HK$3bn ($515.6m), double the launch size.

In this round-up, the Infrastructure Financing Facilitation Office appoints the first group of partner entities, RMB depreciation boosts trading activity in FX markets, and the RMB qualified foreign institutional investor scheme adds two participants in October. Plus, a recap of our top stories this week.

UBS is being investigated by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission for its role in IPOs, with the bank warning that it faces a possible suspension of its corporate finance licence.

Zhou Hei Ya International Holdings Co is looking to raise HK$3.31bn ($427m) via a Hong Kong IPO, launching the trade on Thursday.

Hong Kong-listed Li & Fung attracted $4.4bn in orders for its subordinated fixed-for-life perpetual on Thursday. The $650m deal’s success came despite Asia-ex Japan primary markets being extremely competitive with six other live deals.

In the wake of Brexit, the French financial sector is taking steps to make good on the threat of chipping away RMB business away from the City of London, Arnaud de Bresson, managing director at industry organisation Paris Europlace told GlobalRMB.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication’s (Swift) latest RMB tracker shows that during the last two years, seven new countries are using the renminbi for more than 10% of their direct payments with China and Hong Kong.

Bank of China is gearing up for another milestone as it starts marketing China’s first green covered bond. While the structure of the dual recourse notes is unlikely to appeal to traditional covered bond investors, the trade underpins Beijing’s commitment to lead innovation in socially responsible financing. Lorraine Cushnie reports.

Chinese logistics company ZTO Express priced its $1.4bn IPO on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, marking the largest float from a Mainland firm in the US since 2014. And its successful listing is expected to boost the number of Chinese firms heading to the United States, writes Jonathan Breen.