Greater China

British Columbia became the first issuer to sell a Panda with a sub-3% coupon on Thursday as its triple-A rating assured investors who were largely unfamiliar with the credit. The Canadian province is parking the proceeds offshore after failing to get tax waiver from China regulators, picking a new bank as the home for its deposit.

China’s domestic green bond market is finally set to open with Industrial Bank poised to become the first issuer, having received the People’s Bank of China’s approval this week.

Falling oil prices and China concerns sent credit spreads to the record wides of recent years this week as equity markets plummeted, with a credit index options expiry coming right at the sharp end of the spike and adding to the turmoil.

While China’s impact on equity markets may have been catastrophic of late, not everything coming out of China is bad news. China’s appetite for gobbling up European firms is high, which should give Europe's debt bankers reason to cheer, despite the market misery.

The economies of Italy and China do not appear to have much in common. Italy’s government would welcome a GDP growth rate of 1%, while China expands at less than 7% and investors take flight. One is a sclerotic, decaying Western country, the other is a dynamic Asian tiger. Such is the conventional wisdom.

Barclays beat a hasty retreat this week from the bulk of its investment banking operations in Asia, shuttering offices in multiple countries and slashing hundreds of jobs amid a wider global cull in costs and personnel. It did not pull any punches, with the cuts stretching across the equities, loans and bonds products. John Loh reports.

China’s Haier Group is expected to use bank loans to fund up to $3.3bn of its forthcoming $5.4bn acquisition of US-based GE Appliances. Bankers have predicted an onshore China takeout, but the fundraising structure has not yet been disclosed, reports Shruti Chaturvedi.

The Chinese Panda bond market has gone from strength to strength since its revival last September with the Province of British Columbia (BC) becoming the latest to issue, raising Rmb3bn ($456m) on Thursday. While plenty more sovereign and financial deals are being lined up, the future does not look bright for red chip companies. Carrie Hong and Rev Hui report.

Chinese property developers could face rating downgrades if the renminbi continues to fall, according to Standard & Poor’s.

Hungary may add more banks to the mandate for its potential dim sum bonds, said Andras Rez, deputy chief executive officer at the government debt management agency (AKK) in Hungary.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange plans to cement its position as the primary gateway between China and the rest of the world, after setting out a three-year strategic plan for 2016-2018.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has given Russian companies the nod to list depositary receipts on its main board.