Greater China

Stuart Tait has been named HSBC’s new regional head of commercial banking, Asia Pacific, replacing Paul Skelton who has decided to leave the firm to pursue other opportunities.

The Asian debt market has had a slow but steady stream of deals since the Brexit vote on June 23, but Bank of China blasted the issuance window wide open on Tuesday with a $3bn five tranche, multi-currency transaction — the region’s largest international green bond. Max Bower reports.

Credit Suisse has restructured its Asia Pacific investment banking team, naming Ali Naqvi as head of global markets for the region from co-head and making him responsible for both equities and fixed income.

A pair of Chinese firms are preparing potential multi-billion-dollar deals. Postal Savings Bank of China Co is seeking approval for a Hong Kong IPO that could raise up to $8bn, according to sources familiar with the matter, while China Resources Beer (Holdings) Co is aiming to net HK$9.5bn ($1.2bn) from a rights issue in the next few weeks.

China National Chemical Corp met bankers in Hong Kong this week ahead of a $12.7bn fundraising for its acquisition of Swiss biotech firm Syngenta.

China's GF Securities, which made its debut in the offshore syndicated loan market in 2014, has launched a HK$4bn ($515.4m) loan into general.

With the first institution officially through the door of the new China interbank bond market (CIBM) access scheme, market participants are now scrutinizing the CIBM rules and how they will play out. The outlook is positive but investors should beware the small print.

The list of Panda bonds set to launch in China’s exchange market has just gotten longer with a pair of Hong Kong-incorporated companies receiving approval by the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The Asian debt market has followed up strongly on Bank of China’s successful $3bn green bond, with five deals launched on Thursday and more expected.

China’s foreign exchange and interbank money market announced on Wednesday that foreign financial instituions conducting FX forward-trading will have to start setting aside reserves later in the year.

The Singapore Exchange’s electronic bond trading platform, SGX Bond Pro, is planning to expand into Asian local currency notes later this year. While the initial stage of expansion will be in markets closet to home, the exchange’s head of fixed income trading, Tsai Li Renn, told GlobalRMB that linking up with China could also be on the horizon.

Pirelli, the Italian tyre manufacturer acquired by ChemChina last year, will complete syndication of its loan refinancing this week, according to a lead banker.