Loans and High Yield

Ma Jun, a member of the People’s Bank of China’s monetary policy committee, has come out in favour of altering bank capital rules to give lower risk weights for green assets — which could be a sign the PBoC is close to adopting the policy. He calls on China to lead the way and argues there is evidence green assets are less risky.

Recent deterioration in credit quality, deal terms and potential recovery rates may be storing up trouble in the leveraged loan market but market sources in Europe fear that many of their peers are taking on these risks with no heed to their future impact.

Beijing Enterprises Group and Youyuan International Holdings hit the loan market this week for their latest syndicated fundraisings.

A generous initial guidance from KWG Group Holdings for its $400m bond issuance ended up repricing the Chinese single-B rated curve lower on Wednesday.

Investors need to use their voices, especially by voting at AGMs, to improve the poor performance of many companies on protecting human rights, according to supporters gathered in London on Monday for the launch of the second annual results of the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark.

Private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners has signed €673m of debt facilities to back its acquisition of French energy infrastructure and services company Idex.

Corporate bond investors have had to pick their way through a tricky market in 2018. A number of headwinds, both predictable and not, have made it difficult to produce the returns of previous years. However, there are a number of positives that remain, so how should investors move forward from here?

Despite the mounting number of risks on the horizon, the European leveraged finance market has ploughed on at a steady pace. While some investors say that is proof of healthy sophistication, others believe it is time for a big push back.

In a further sign that the European leveraged loan market is approaching the end of the year on a hot note, trading software provider OpenLink is looking to reduce the spread on the leveraged buyout loans it sold in March.

High yield issuers’ struggle to push out deals in turbulent market conditions was reflected when Singapore’s Interplex Holdings was forced to cancel its inaugural dollar offering.

Taiwan’s Mei Ta Industries has closed a €245m loan, attracting five participants during syndication.

Chinese paper manufacturer Youyuan International Holdings is seeking commitments for a $120m refinancing loan, wooing banks with a juicier margin when compared to its last fundraise.