Northeast Asia

In this round-up, China’s central bank leaves the benchmark loan prime rate (LPR) unchanged for May, the stock exchanges of Shanghai and Shenzhen will allow companies to sell bonds with maturities under one year, and fund manager Fidelity International is looking to break into the onshore mutual fund industry.

Hong Kong’s equity markets took a hit on Friday and sentiment soured among bond investors over news that China is considering enacting the national security law in Hong Kong. Bankers have described the possible impact as everything from a “death knell” to a “flash point” for the special administrative region’s markets.

China Southern Asset Management is in a strong position to capture opportunities in the Mainland’s rapidly growing equity fund market. The rising competition in this segment is only set to push it harder.

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index made a historic change this week, allowing companies with weighted voting rights (WVRs) and secondary-listed shares on to the index.

Chinese IPOs in the US came under renewed pressure this week after the US Senate passed legislation that could ban mainland companies from its stock exchanges and the Nasdaq said it intends to tighten the screws on regulations around listings. Jonathan Breen reports.

Cruise ship operator Genting Hong Kong has become the latest Asian company to seek a covenant waiver on a loan as the Covid-19 pandemic hits its operations. A rise in payment deferral requests is putting further pressure on retail banks that are already being forced to take a step back from lending. Pan Yue reports.

At least four issuers are planning to sell Panda bonds in June, GlobalCapital China has learned. Rebecca Feng reports.

Chinese property companies are slowly returning to the dollar bond market, reopening issuance from the sector after a two-month hiatus. Although debt bankers are not predicting a big pick-up in deal flow from these high yield issuers, the lack of supply is giving some borrowers an edge over pricing. Morgan Davis reports.

New York Stock Exchange-listed online gaming company Sea tapped equity-linked bond investors for $1bn this week, following a surge in its share price after it reported strong first quarter earnings.

Bonds are back, baby! Or at least that’s what my banker friend is telling me.

SK Biopharmaceuticals is set to reopen the South Korean IPO market with a W959.3bn ($779.9m) listing, according to a source close to the deal.

Henderson Land Development Co took advantage of the strong aftermarket performance of recent bonds sold by its Hong Kong peers to raise $300m from investors on Wednesday.