Greater China

United Overseas Bank (UOB) recently hired Ben Chan Ho Fai as the head of RMB solutions, a new unit that the bank set up earlier year.

Primary bond activity in Asia picked up again on Thursday following the end of the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), with a pair of Chinese issuers launching separate deals in dollars and euros.

The renminbi fell back one place to be the fifth most used currency for international payments by value, Swift said in its October 29 report.

The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect is approaching its first birthday, with market participants eager to see the scheme expanded to reach its full potential with the inclusion of the Shenzhen-listed stocks as the first order of business and a potential expansion overseas to London. But from an infrastructure perspective, there remains a wide gap between China and most developed markets.

China Cinda Asset Management has sent out a request for proposals for a loan of around $5bn to back its bid for the acquisition of Nanyang Commercial Bank, according to sources.

SSA borrowers this week provided investors with a strong line up of innovative products. A new standard was set in SRI bonds, Cyprus raised €1bn via an innovative switch offer, Italy sold two year debt at a negative yield and British Columbia is lining up its debt Panda bond.

China International Capital Corp (CICC), which is looking to raise HK$6.29bn ($811.61m) in a Hong Kong IPO, has sent out a covered book message to investors ahead of its expected pricing on Friday.

Nordic companies are showing a strong willingness to adopt the renminbi for payments which is a creating an opportunity for Sweden’s SEB Paula da Silva, head of transaction services at SEB, told GlobalRMB at the recent Sibos conference held in Singapore.

The surprise devaluation of the RMB in August surprised the markets, but banks are still seeing growing interest in the Shanghai pilot free trade zone (FTZ) as a treasury hub that can help manage local and regional liquidity needs. And the Chinese authorities have just pledged more liberalisation in the future.

Next month sees the launch of the China Europe International Exchange (CEINEX), a joint venture between China and Germany. The exchange will develop and distribute offshore RMB including five new ETFS that are expected go live at the same time as CEINEX.

Chinese borrowers have unsettled loans bankers by either slashing the size or the margin of their dollar loans at the last minute. The moves have been criticised by lenders forced to gain approvals from their credit committees all over again. But banks need to adapt quickly. With China’s credit environment changing at such a rapid pace, such tactics are only likely to become more frequent.

Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC) has priced the second euro-denominated bond by a Chinese auto company, following a recent issue from one of its peers. A total of seven firms were hired as joint global co-ordinators for the €500m ($552m) deal after the issuer added five more banks to the syndicate to reward them for placing anchor orders.