North America

Japan’s Honma Golf is planning a Hong Kong IPO under sole sponsor Morgan Stanley, according to its draft prospectus.

A slump in high-grade issuance has prompted fears of a prolonged slowdown in US corporate bond supply, with borrowers shelving their funding plans until the autumn.

Mizuho has hired Christopher Nam for its West coast technology investment banking team, a big part of the bank’s US expansion drive.

OpenDoor Trading has re-engaged the services former chief operating officer, Chris Ferreri, as a member of its advisory board, just months after he left the firm to join a broker.

China announced plans to expand its currency marketplace overseas this month with branches set to be open in London and New York. Market participants say this is all part of the renminbi internationalisation effort and is the first step to further liberalising the CNY foreign exchange market.

In this round-up, South Korea’s RMB deposits drop to near-zero, South African rand starts direct trading with RMB, and BlackRock launches its first US-listed physical A-shares fund. Plus, a recap of GlobalRMB’s coverage this week.

Panic around the rising likelihood of the UK choosing to leave the European Union in a referendum on June 23 sent European and US markets into turmoil this week, with volatility jumping as traders struggled to prepare for the two possible outcomes.

The dollar market ended its record-breaking run of issuance this week as uncertainty around the outcome of the UK referendum vote caused buyers to take flight and spreads to widen.

Reliance Big Entertainment US has approached the Asian syndicated loan market for a $100m deal, bringing a rarely seen film production name to lenders. While there are some concerns over its cash flows, the borrower is mitigating those fears with two credit enhancements. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

Reliance Big Entertainment US, part of India’s Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (Reliance ADAG), is tapping lenders for a $100m three year trade with one bank at the helm.

The European Commission will begin using fixed income pricing data and liquidity metrics from Markit, the financial information services firm, in its research and policymaking activities.

Panelists at Global ABS agreed that growing interest in environmental impact and attractive returns on bonds are helping the asset class catch investor interest from both sides of the pond.