Greater China

A surge of contingent convertible debt issuance from Chinese banks in 2015 has failed to prevent volumes falling, with European banks put off the market for large portions of this year, according to Moody’s.

In this round-up, the visit to China by UK chancellor George Osborne generates raft of new announcements including plans for Shanghai-London Stock Connect, landmark bond issues, an extension to the RMB-GBP swap line and many, many more; PBoC relaxes requirements for cash pooling scheme.

Selecting and weighting stocks according to their management and governance quality has been an effective hedge against stock losses, especially in bear markets, writes William Cox of Management & Excellence, which created the methodology for the M&E BDO Asiamoney Hong Kong Sustainable Stars Index.

The stated aim of the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), officially launched in June 2015, is to respond to a need for massive spending across Asia. But its creation has caused political controversy, with supporters arguing it shows up previous iniquities while opponents fear it will be a mere tool for China's projection of power. Peter McGill reports.

Asiamoney is pleased to present its choices for Asia’s Best Managed Companies 2015. The winners were the firms that impressed us the most through a combination of factors including innovation, financial performance and strategic execution, and after also surveying the views of regional analysts and investors. Our congratulations to all those chosen.

Three shareholders in HKBN have exited from the Hong Kong-listed telecommunications company, raising a collective HK$614.2 ($79.3m), in what is the first accelerated block in the stock since its IPO in March.

China has taken a huge step forward with the liberalisation of its capital markets this week following the announcement that Bank of China Hong Kong (BOCHK) and HSBC have been approved by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) to become the first foreign banks to issue Panda bonds.

Frédéric Lainé has left RBC Capital Markets after four years with the bank. The fixed income veteran is understood to be leaving the banking industry.

The Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (Asifma) has expressed its concerns over the widespread use of powers of attorney (POA) in Hong Kong IPOs.

Weichai Power has opened books for its debut offering which will also be the first under new Chinese rules for offshore bond issuance that were released last week.

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has issued a set of rules for the renminbi Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) to the first batch of 19 participating banks. According to a copy of the document that GlobalRMB has obtained, the central bank released the rules on September 11 and they are to be applied imminently.

Two banks have launched a $700m three year borrowing for Fosun Industrial, an affiliate of Chinese conglomerate Fosun International.