HSBC

Bank of Communications (BOCOM) priced a three year dollar transaction on January 9, becoming the third financial dollar bond this year following China Huarong and Japan’s SMBC. Although the regular issuer witnessed a rather slow bookbuilding at the beginning, the Chinese deal gained momentum as onshore banks piled in to get their hands on a popular credit.

Billionaire Li Ka-shing is carving out separate property and non-property businesses from his two main holding companies in a landmark reorganisation of his vast empire.

Bank of Communications started receiving bids for a three year dollar transaction on January 9 as it looks to ride on the positive momentum created by China Huarong Asset Management and become the third financial institution to price a bond this week.

Republic of Indonesia started 2015 in style on January 8 with a $4bn dual tranche behemoth that was five times subscribed. The overwhelming demand meant the sovereign was able to shave 150bp off its funding costs.

HSBC is losing one of its key senior members next month with Anita Fung, group general manager and chief executive officer of HSBC, Hong Kong, leaving the firm to pursue opportunities outside the group.

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Barclays Bank re-opened the primary covered bond market on Monday by issuing a £1bn ($1.51bn) three year sterling benchmark, and was followed by a pair of Canadian borrowers.

A default by Chinese property developer Kaisa on a HK$400m ($51.6m) bilateral loan from HSBC has triggered a debate on the outlook and credibility of borrowers in the country’s volatile real estate sector. However, bankers believe such cases will be limited to companies lower down the credit curve and do not represent the industry as a whole.

One of Asia’s most consistent sovereign issuers, the Republic of Indonesia, kicked off its first bond of the year on Thursday, January 8. The deal comes just days after the Republic of Philippines successfully sold a $2bn 25 year bond as part of an accelerated switch process.

The Republic of the Philippines overcame an unusually sluggish market this week to print a $2bn bond as part of an accelerated switch process. The Asian bond market was quieter than normal in the first week of the year, thanks to high volatility caused by plummeting global oil prices and fears of a default in the Chinese property sector.

The largest publicly listed coal supplier in the world, China Shenhua Energy, is looking to diversify its financing avenues by dipping into the international debt market for the first time.

State Grid Corp of China, a government-owned utility, has mandated banks for a possible debut euro bond to be issued through its European subsidiary, State Grid Europe Development.