Northeast Asia

A group of 23 banks and 12 securities houses completed 154 renminbi interest rate option (IRO) transactions worth Rmb12.8bn ($1.81bn) on Monday. The new derivatives product is viewed as a solid step for China’s interest rate reform.

China’s Xiaomi Corp is planning to print a Rmb1bn ($141m) private placement Panda bond next week, in what will be the smartphone and appliances maker’s first outing in the onshore bond market.

South Korea's Shinhan Bank is hoping to sell a public dollar bond in April, following a virus-linked $50m private placement this month.

China’s top regulators went above and beyond expectations over the weekend in providing reassurance that the country’s markets are on solid footing. While this was helpful, more action to support companies falling through the cracks is sorely needed.

Chinese property management company Redsun Services Group is planning a Hong Kong listing that could raise up to $100m, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The top officials at various Chinese regulatory bodies made efforts over the weekend to calm nerves on default risks and fleeing foreign capital as they tame the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus within the country.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has shed some light on the kinds of companies that are eligible to list on the Star board, solving part of a problem that has long puzzled potential IPO candidates.

MUFG Securities Asia has named Mark Henderson, a veteran banker who has been with the firm for nearly two decades, as its new chief executive.

Chinese biotechnology company InnoCare Pharma’s shares surged over 10% on their Monday debut, following an online opening ceremony for the HK$2.2bn ($288.7m) listing in Hong Kong.

Asia’s sustainability-linked loan market has expanded further with a real estate investment trust raising funds linked to the global real estate sustainability benchmark (GRESB), a first for the region.

In this round-up, countries around the world have confirmed 14,641 deaths from Covid-19 infections, the coronavirus epicentre of Wuhan is gradually loosening its lockdown, and the New Development Bank is giving China its largest loan.

Barclays has named Carrie Chen as vice chairman of Greater China banking and Sung-Min Chung as head of technology in banking for Asia Pacific.