Hong Kong SAR

SC Lowy, a fixed income-focused banking and finance group, has sold 20% of its shares to a group of strategic investors.

Chinese real estate developer Zhenro Properties Group has bagged HK$3.99bn ($510m) after pricing its IPO near the top of guidance, according to a source close to the deal.

Property companies Country Garden Holdings Co (CoGard), Times Property Holdings, Tahoe Group Co and Wharf Real Estate Investment Company hit the dollar debt market in force on Tuesday.

Country Garden Holdings Company (CoGard) and SEA Holdings are planning their comebacks to the offshore debt market, while Wharf Real Estate Investment Co is set to test its luck with accounts for the first time.

Chinese financial regulators publish fresh rules on the bond market to control leverage, China’s FX reserves grow again to $3.14tr in December, and Bank of China completes a RMB salary payment for Chinese diplomats abroad after the central bank’s call to push for cross-border RMB transactions.

With growing demand for overseas investment, Chinese regulators could release new outbound investment quotas in 2018 by rebooting the qualified domestic institutional investor (QDII) programme and launching a two-way ETF Connect with Hong Kong.

At some point on Christmas Day, after I had polished off several plates of turkey with all the trimmings, six mince pies and half a Christmas pudding, I began to wonder whether or not I was living a healthy lifestyle. I decided that, yes, I probably was.

Standard Chartered has brought a former banker at Citi out of retirement to run its Greater China and North Asian business.

Will 2018 be yet another record year for Asia’s green bond market? The signs were good this week. Swire Properties chose the format for the region’s first dollar bond of the year. Addison Gong reports.

General Atlantic Singapore raised HK$982.2m ($125.6m) on Thursday after upsizing a sale of Xiabuxiabu Catering Management China Holdings stock in Hong Kong’s first block trade of the year, according to a source close to the deal.

Activity in the Hong Kong loan market has made a robust start to the year, with a big loan for Chow Tai Fook entering syndication.

The Chinese regulator’s decision to kick-start a pilot scheme that will allow mainland-based holders of Hong Kong-listed stocks to convert them into H-shares is a big move, with many advantages for both stockholders and the city’s equity market. But it’s not time to crack open the champagne just yet. If the past is any example, progress will be slow at best.