Northeast Asia

Chinese ship financing company CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping Co took advantage of the risk-on sentiment in the market on Thursday to take home an $800m dual-tranche bond.

EMEA equity capital markets roared back into life this week, as fears over a potential coronavirus pandemic abated to allow the blocks market to reopen in size. A huge slug of supply on Monday evening that traded up left investors hungry for more, report Sam Kerr and Aidan Gregory.

As the coronavirus rages on across mainland China, simple daily tasks can morph into a whole new way of doing things.

A mix of Chinese policy banks, hospital builders and pharmaceuticals companies have put the domestic bond market to use to combat the coronavirus outbreak as the death toll nears 600. More mainland issuers are also readying deals as the country’s regulators introduce a faster registration process for such issuance, write Addison Gong and Rebecca Feng.

Central China Real Estate manoeuvred its way around China’s offshore bond issuance regulations on Wednesday by marketing a sub-one year note. The deal made Central China the first mainland property company to sell a bond in the wake of the coronavirus volatility.

The outbreak of the coronavirus has added to challenges in a surprising part of Asia’s capital markets — loan syndications, typically known for being resilient and slower to be hit by global worries. But as Pan Yue reports, new loan launches have been put on the backburner and roadshows are being cancelled. Bankers are expecting more covenant waivers and difficulties in building their client base.

Sixteen banks led Baa2/BBB rated Huatai Securities Co's $400m floating rate transaction on Wednesday.

Asian issuers found strong response to their dollar bonds on Wednesday, coming to the market after a rough start to the week on the back of the coronavirus-related volatility. As investors show their willingness to take on risk again, debt bankers are optimistic the pressure on the market will be lifted before long, writes Morgan Davis.

The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) raised $500m from a five year bond on Wednesday, becoming one of the first borrowers to reopen the dollar market after Chinese New Year and the rapid spread of a new virus.

Chinese hotel company Huazhu Group, previously known as China Lodging Group, has closed its borrowing of about $1bn with 13 banks.

Chinese policy banks and corporations are planning to sell renminbi bonds onshore to battle the coronavirus outbreak, using the capital markets as a source of key funding during a challenging time for the financial industry.

The US Federal Reserve board has permanently banned Andrea Vella, formerly a senior executive at Goldman Sachs, from the banking industry for his role in the 1Malaysia Development (1MDB) scandal.