ICBC

Alibaba Group Holding has kicked off its up to $13.4bn Hong Kong IPO, set to be the largest listing on the bourse for nearly a decade. Bankers are confident the deal will be a success, but they are navigating challenging times in the city’s stock market, which plunged this week as violence during protests escalated. Jonathan Breen reports.

Investors looked beyond Nanyang Commercial Bank's Hong Kong home to its Chinese parent this week, allowing the borrower to close a $700m Basel III-compliant tier two subordinated deal, despite the protests happening in the city.

This month, Jim O’Higgins is to retire after 15 years at ICBC Standard Bank.

Oil major BP and motorbike maker Harley-Davidson both hit the euro bond market on Tuesday, in the wake of the European Central Bank’s far bigger than expected first week of corporate bond purchases.

Ghanaian cocoa agency, Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod), will raise a $600m loan from supranational and international lenders. The deal is Cocobod's third syndicated loan this year.

BMW Auto Finance (China) has wrapped up its last foray of the year into the Chinese auto loan ABS market with a tightly priced deal. A diverse group of investors took up the senior tranche of the Rmb8bn ($1.14bn) trade, said bankers.

Russian pulp and paper producer Ilim Group has launched syndication to refinance a $500m loan, according to bankers. The loan is one of the last expected to be signed in Russia's international syndicated market this year.

Dongfeng Nissan Auto Finance bagged Rmb6.5bn ($920m) from its third auto loan ABS trade of the year on Wednesday. Despite being the largest ABS trade the originator has done, the four tranche deal was well covered.

State-owned China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec) raised $2bn from three dollar bonds on Monday, making a rapid comeback to the debt market.

BMW Auto Finance (China) is planning a return to the auto loan ABS market next week with a Rmb8bn ($1.1bn) deal.

Dongfeng Nissan Auto Finance, a joint venture between Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor and Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor, will return to the Chinese auto loan ABS market on November 5 for its third deal of the year. The Rmb6.5bn ($920m) four-tranche note will be the issuer’s largest outing to date.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has printed a pair of tightly priced currency linked notes, showing that investors are accepting lower yields in return for exposure to potential currency appreciation.