Hong Kong SAR

The US Federal Reserve board has permanently banned Andrea Vella, formerly a senior executive at Goldman Sachs, from the banking industry for his role in the 1Malaysia Development (1MDB) scandal.

China Bright Culture Group, an independent television producer, has got the go-ahead from Hong Kong’s stock exchange to launch its IPO.

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China is taking its toll on Asia's capital markets. Many countries have acted quickly to contain the disease as much as possible, leaving investors, bankers and companies with capital market ambitions in limbo, with many forced to cancel travel plans and work from home. The outbreak shows no signs of abating — but it may not mar the capital markets for long.

Chinese biotechnology firm Akesobio has resubmitted its IPO documents with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, two months after the bourse rejected its original listing application.

Hong Kong’s stock exchange is looking to put artificial intelligence technology to use for reviewing disclosures by listed companies.

Chinese stocks plummeted on Monday morning, the first trading day after the Lunar New Year holiday. The plunge came despite measures from the central bank and securities regulator to inject liquidity and ban short selling.

In this round-up, UBS expects China’s GDP growth to drop to 3.8% in the first quarter due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, Hong Kong banks shut branches to limit the virus spread and Chinese regulators step in with stablising measures for financial markets.

Devesh Ashra has left his position as co-head of Asia Pacific debt solutions at Bank of America in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s stock exchange has returned Chinese biotechnology firm Akeso’s listing application, a deal being sponsored by JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley.

Asian debt bankers had expected a peaceful week amid the Chinese New Year holidays, but rising concerns about the spread of the coronavirus this week led to a rush of emergency calls. Several borrowers have decided to skip or delay planned roadshow meetings in Hong Kong.

Peijia Medical and Shenzhen Hepalink Pharmaceutical Group Co have set the ball rolling for Hong Kong IPOs, having filed draft prospectuses with the city’s stock exchange.

There was a burst of activity from Chinese pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the equity capital markets this week, as the sector took centre stage following the spread of a flu-like virus that has already claimed lives on the mainland. Jonathan Breen reports.