Hong Kong SAR

Chinese auto company Geely International (Hong Kong) ventured into the bond market with an uncommon structure on September 16, raising $300m with a floating rate note backed by a loan from Bank of China.

HSBC has promoted Sean Henderson to the role of deputy head of debt capital markets for Asia Pacific, as well as head of capital financing for Singapore, according to an internal memo seen by GlobalCapital Asia.

Houston Huang Guobin, a former Goldman Sachs coverage banker, has decamped to JP Morgan to take up the position of head of global investment banking for China.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has made three senior hires in its Asia Pacific research unit, according to a memo seen by GlobalCapital Asia.

A subdued north Asia equity capital market, which has barely seen any activity since August, suddenly burst into life on September 16. American car rental company Hertz reduced its stake in China Auto Rental (CAR) while Taiwan’s TWi Pharmaceuticals sold GDRs on the same day to raise a combined $187m.

HSBC and Standard Chartered are each working on their debut Panda bond issuance, aiming to launch the deals at end of September at the earliest, several sources have told GlobalRMB. If the deals come out as planned, these will also be first Panda offerings from financial institutions.

The absence of sizeable IPOs on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for nearly two months is about to come to an end, with lingerie manufacturer Regina Miracle set to launch its $200m deal next week.

State Street Corp has picked Mark England as a senior vice-president and head of asset manager sector sales for Asia, poaching him from Citibank.

Hong Kong Airlines’ on-again, off-again IPO is now off again. The short-haul carrier has pulled the plug on its $600m float, with little visibility on when the listing could next hit the runway.

Houston Huang Guobin, a former Goldman Sachs coverage banker, has decamped to JP Morgan to take up the position of head of global investment banking for China.

IMAX China started testing investor appetite for its $300m-$500m IPO in Hong Kong on Tuesday, even as sentiment in equity markets remained dour and shares in the city fell 0.49%, tracking losses in Shanghai.

The Hong Kong government this week made its pitch to be the link between Asean countries and China under the ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative. The city should leverage its “super-connector” role to become the Asean trade centre on the OBOR map, said So Kam Leung, Secretary of Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of Hong Kong at the Hong Kong-Asean Summit on September 14.