Hong Kong SAR

Property developer HKR International is considering increasing the size of its borrowing to HK$6bn-HK$7bn ($774m-$903m) after receiving a strong response in a market where Hong Kong credits have been scarce.

South China Financial Holdings has announced appointments to its senior management team. The new recruits will head the group’s three major business units comprising investment banking, wealth management and securities.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) should take into consideration renminbi transactions involving Hong Kong when assessing the currency's international usage, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has told GlobalRMB. The current treatment excludes such flows, but even partial inclusion could tip the scales for the RMB's eligibility for the IMF's Special Drawing Rights (SDR).

The RMB globalisation index (RGI) published monthly by Standard Chartered (StanChart) fell by 2.8% in June from a month earlier. The key reason for the drop was lower FX turnover, but ongoing liberalisations should support the market in the coming months.

In this round-up, RMB indicators rose in Hong Kong across deposits, trade settlement and clearing, HKEx saw a 66% month on month increase in USD/CNH futures, Macau's RMB deposits and trade settlement were also up, and China and Angola will use their national currencies for trade settlement.

Standard Chartered has hired a former banker from Royal Bank of Scotland as its new head of Greater China debt capital markets.

Former Morgan Stanley banker Dave Sandor has been hired by Goldman Sachs as an executive director for equity-linked, filling a vacancy that has existed for some time.

I recently paid a visit to the bank I used to work at years ago. Not much has changed, but what I didn’t expect to see was an almost empty office during lunch hours. Where were all these junior bankers who were supposed to be gobbling down sandwiches while frantically bashing on keyboards at their desks?

Filipino property firm DM Wenceslao and Associates Inc has filed for a listing to raise $200m, in a deal led by BPI Capital, Citic CLSA Securities, Deutsche Bank and Maybank. The float is expected to go live in the fourth quarter of this year, say bankers.

Nomura has hired Shantanu Sahai from Barclays as its executive director in debt capital markets Asia ex-Japan to drive its Indian bond business, according to an internal memo seen by GlobalCapital Asia.

China Auto Rental (CAR) pulled off a second successful foray in the US dollar bond market, raising $300m after tightening pricing by nearly 40bp on the back of strong demand.

Deutsche Bank’s head of investment banking advisory and coverage for southeast Asia, Parvati Banati, has exited the German lender, according to sources.