Japan

Bank of China sold green bonds denominated in yen and offshore renminbi (CNH) last week, ending its long absence in the Japanese market.

International banks have been raiding the yen market for loss-absorbing debt in recent weeks, with volatile conditions casting doubt on deal execution in other currencies.

Japanese pharmaceuticals company Takeda implemented the first part of its financing of a £46bn takeover of UK biotech firm Shire on Thursday. The company used a six tranche combination to raise €7.5bn on its debut in the euro market.

Crédit Agricole was marketing five tranches of Euroyen bonds this week, following a very popular offering in the format from BNP Paribas earlier this year.

New York-listed aircraft leasing company Aircastle, owned by Japan's Marubeni Corp, has returned to the loan market for a $250m revolving credit facility.

Regular issuer Dongfeng-Nissan Auto Finance will open books for a Rmb4.43bn ($639.6m) auto loan securitization on Thursday.

UBS tapped the Tokyo Pro-Bond market this week to raise ¥150bn ($1.33bn) of funding for its total loss absorbing capacity, at a time of little volume in the FIG euro market.

In this round-up, MSCI proposes plans to increase four-fold the weighting of A-shares in its emerging markets (EM) index, China and the Philippines are launching a peso and renminbi trading platform next month, and weaker external demand drags down China's PMIs.

Stability of foreign currency funding is a priority for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and covered bonds provide a new level of balance in this regard, according to the bank’s head of treasury. Since other borrowers in Japan are sure to be thinking along the same lines, the market for Japan's covered bond is likely to have tremendous scope for growth.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation has set a strong precedent for Japan’s nascent covered bond market by attracting a comfortably oversubscribed, diverse, high quality order book for its first deal, the first from Japan.

Covered bonds have drifted wider over the last few weeks, reflecting heavier than expected supply and diminished market maker interest. Even so, the primary market is functioning healthily, boding well for prospective debut deals from Münchener Hypothekenbank and SMBC, deals that could surface as early as Tuesday.

China and Japan confirm details of currency swaps and plans to invest more in third party markets, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) renews the license of nine authorised institutions as Primary Liquidity Providers (PLPs) for the CNH market in Hong Kong and Singapore sets up new government agency to bridge the funding gap facing Asia’s infrastructure projects.