Greater China

Two Hong Kong-based bankers are set to leave boutique investment bank China Renaissance by the middle of the year.

Jiayuan International Group raised HK$1.12bn ($144.16m) from its Hong Kong IPO after selling shares at the top of the marketing range, in a deal driven mainly by Chinese investors.

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has issued the most detailed outlook so far on what it sees as its foreign exchange policy going forward. Meanwhile, the stabilisation of the onshore RMB (CNY) rate against the dollar means that there is more optimism in the outlook for the currency.

In this round-up: Hong Kong cross-border trade settlement fell again at the start of the year, RMB deposits were steady in Hong Kong but falling in Singapore, Brics New Development Bank will set up in Shanghai, and PBoC said a swap line with Bank of Russia had been activated. Plus, a recap of our top stories this week.

Ping An Real Estate Capital has set out for a $200m loan that comes with an unspecified greenshoe option.

Union Medical Healthcare is due to close books on its HK$951m ($122m) IPO in Hong Kong on Friday evening, with pricing expected over the weekend, according to a source close to the transaction.

Crédit Agricole has received a bond underwriting licence from Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC). The country presents a great opportunity for global issuers in dollars but it could be some time before renminbi issuance revives.

Russian gas company Gazprom has raised €2bn ($2.2bn) from Bank of China, marking its largest fundraising directly from a single financial institution and its first bilateral loan from a Chinese lender.

The unusual financing structure that China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) is using for its $43bn acquisition of Syngenta drew a varied response from banks in Europe this week. Some saw the non-recourse structure for $20bn of the debt as shielding lenders from exposure to ChemChina, while others did not.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is said to be in advanced talks with banks for a borrowing of around $4bn.

A rarely seen product is set to return to the Asian securitization market with fixed income specialist SC Lowy and UOB Asset Management (UOBAM) gearing up for a $400m collateralized loan obligation (CLO). The transaction will be the first non-bank originated Asian CLO in years, but the structured finance community is sceptical about the market’s potential, writes Rev Hui.

As an ex-banker, I am used to hearing rants about the miserable fees paid by Asia’s state-owned issuers, but even I struggle to comprehend the lengths dealers must now go to if they want to win a deal.