Greater China

CP Pokphand, part of Thai firm Charoen Pokphand Group, has raised a $600m loan to repay outstanding debt.

Poland is looking to join the club of Panda bond issuers, having signed up Bank of China to lead its transaction. But the sovereign plans to swap the renminbi proceeds back into euros as it has little need for the Chinese currency.

China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co has launched its Hong Kong IPO, covering the HK$7.6bn ($980m) float at the low end of guidance. But it has only managed to do so with mainland cornerstone investors propping up nearly 80% of the deal.

Markets watchers in Asia said they were optimistic, as GlobalCapital Asia went to press on Thursday, that next week would be a return to business as usual, given their widespread expectations that the UK would choose to remain in the European Union. But some warned that, irrespective of the outcome, currency risks could spill over to other asset classes, adversely affecting bonds and equities.

Lifestyle International Holdings has returned to the loan market for a HK$8bn ($1bn) fundraising after a gap of nearly five years. The borrower, which operates the well-known Sogo department stores, has opted for a syndication instead of a club deal, with the rarity element of its name helping find to attract interest. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

The People’s Bank of China put a new idea in front of market watchers this week – Chinese depositary receipts. While the plan is far from concrete and there are few assurances it will take off, listings of foreign companies on the Mainland would be a historic, and tantalising, prospect. John Loh reports.

China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe) has expanded a pilot renminbi conversion scheme to all non-financial companies, allowing them to repatriate offshore bond proceeds. This will help reduce confusion over different rules from different regulators and boost direct offshore bond issuance, said market participants.

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission is improving its oversight of the city’s IPO process under proposed new rules that will give it earlier and more direct input on listing policy.

The Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX) and Thomson Reuters (TR) launched on June 23 a new series of indices to track movements of the RMB against a basket of currencies.

China’s non-performing loans securitization market is quickly taking shape with China Merchants Bank set to launch the asset class’s third transaction following its restart last month. And the upcoming trade features a new type of underlying assets – micro loans.

A $12.7bn Asia-focused loan for China National Chemical Corp’s acquisition of Swiss firm Syngenta is expected to enter the second phase of syndication as early as next week.

The Mutual Recognition of Funds (MRF) scheme has had a relatively slow start, but Chinese regulators are said to be looking at Luxembourg to expand the scope of the progamme, GlobalRMB has learned. But difficulties abound in bringing the project to reality.