Hong Kong SAR

Mizuho has bolstered its corporate acquisition finance team with a new hire as it strengthens its Asian capabilities.

Westpac has hired a former banker from Royal Bank of Scotland to bolster its Hong Kong-based debt capital markets business.

Individual initiatives by China in the commodity space, such as the July launches in Shanghai of a Gold Connect scheme and a new oil and natural gas exchange, may be gaining little traction right off the bat, but they are pieces in a broader strategy devised by the world's largest consumer of commodities. An upcoming oil futures contract, in particular, could see that plan make a leap forward.

Beijing Konruns Pharmaceuticals Co, a maker of cancer drugs, is planning an IPO in Hong Kong, with the company filing an A-1 on Tuesday. Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs will jointly sponsor the trade.

Banks are processing approvals for a loan of around $300m to back the purchase of Ciro’s Plaza in Shanghai.

Barclays has promoted Alex Aram to head of credit trading for Asia Pacific and has added two new hires to the region’s credit team.

The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) group has hired former BNP Paribas (BNPP) head of RMB Julien Martin to join its fixed income and currencies (FIC) group.

Following an already disappointing week, Asia’s equity markets suffered another brutal sell-off when trading re-opened on Monday. The turmoil is confounding market watchers and turning up the heat on ECM, with bankers saying new issuance may be fighting a losing battle.

China Energy Engineering Corp is gearing up for a Hong Kong IPO, with the company filing a draft prospectus on Friday. But it comes as Asian equities followed a global sell-off and Chinese shares slumped 4.3%, and as bankers sound the alarm over primary deal flow.

China Renaissance Securities (Hong Kong) has hired a new co-head of mergers and acquisitions, poaching Jeremy Choy from JP Morgan.

HSBC has been mandated as the sole offshore RMB concentration bank for LME Clear, clearing house for the London Metal Exchange (LME), which accepted the offshore renminbi (CNH) as eligible cash collateral earlier this month. The bank has told GlobalRMB that the initiative shows the growing prominence of RMB in commodities markets.

Trio to arrange $500m for SBI — NewOcean Energy returns for $170m — China duo clinch $1.1bn Wuxi take-private loan — Tiphone out for $184m — Kingboard to increase from HK$5bn