Northeast Asia

The People’s Bank of China has started to allow banks seeking quotas to sell non-performing loan securitizations to shift from the old approval-based system to a registration-based system, onshore bankers told GlobalCapital China this week. The reform is set to speed up the pre-issuance phase and ease banks’ increasing pressure to dispose of bad loans.

Big Hit Entertainment, the label behind hugely popular K-pop boy band BTS, this week launched bookbuilding for an IPO that will be worth as much as W962.6bn ($818.4m). The company is the latest to ride a wave of demand sweeping the country’s stock market, causing an over-heating that is pushing prices dangerously high, said bankers. Jonathan Breen reports.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China raised a smaller than planned $2.9bn from its additional tier one outing, buffeted by a surge in supply this week and a softer market backdrop. Alice Huang reports.

Haitong hires IB vice-chairman – Bank of America recruits from HSBC

US-listed Chinese companies Zai Lab and Baozun have kicked off secondary offerings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, adding further momentum to the city’s already hot equity capital market.

Bank of China took yet another step this week to build China’s sustainability market by selling Asia’s first blue bond to benefit ocean-related projects — opening the door for similar deals from the region. Morgan Davis reports.

Hong Kong Broadband Network is enticing banks to a HK$5bn ($645m) loan by offering them a juicier margin than previously.

Beijing Construction Engineering Group has returned to the debt market for a $350m term loan.

China’s Avic International Holding Corp raised $300m from its bond outing on Tuesday.

Ganfeng Lithium, the world’s largest producer of lithium metals, has raised HK$1.46bn ($187.8m) from the sale of primary shares.

Tensions between the US and China dealt a blow to state-owned utility firm China Three Gorges Corp’s $1bn bond outing, which fell short of the lead banks’ pricing expectations.

Bangkok Bank sold its first Basel III-compliant additional tier one dollar bond on Tuesday, making it a rare bank capital offering from Thailand.