Northeast Asia

Hong Kong furniture manufacturer and retailer Man Wah Holdings has launched its debut $100m loan into general syndication.

China Tian Lun Gas Holding is seeking a Hong Kong dollar denominated loan to refinance a $240m dollar facility sealed in 2015.

Shanghai Pharmaceutical Holding is raising a $655m dual-tranche facility to refinance a bridge loan that was used to support the acquisition of Cardinal Health (L).

Hong Kong-listed China Water Affairs Group is paying 10bp less for a new $200m borrowing versus a similar transaction sealed earlier this year.

In this round-up, MSCI proposes plans to increase four-fold the weighting of A-shares in its emerging markets (EM) index, China and the Philippines are launching a peso and renminbi trading platform next month, and weaker external demand drags down China's PMIs.

In this round-up, Chinese president Xi Jinping promises more support for the private sector, Australia’s state of Victoria becomes the first in the country to support the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and Xi and US president Donald Trump discuss trade on a phone call ahead of their meeting at the G20 later this month.

The People’s Bank of China will issue bills worth Rmb20bn ($2.87bn) in Hong Kong next week, in what analysts see as a signal of closer oversight of offshore renminbi (CNH) liquidity.

A flexible approach allowed Shangri-La Hotel to tap into the Singapore dollar bond market on Thursday for S$825m, a rare outing that helped it stave off pressing loan liabilities.

Changchun Urban Development & Investment Holdings (Group) Co leveraged on its positioning as a key infrastructure investment and construction company for the local Chinese government to woo investors to its $400m bond return on Thursday.

Stability of foreign currency funding is a priority for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and covered bonds provide a new level of balance in this regard, according to the bank’s head of treasury. Since other borrowers in Japan are sure to be thinking along the same lines, the market for Japan's covered bond is likely to have tremendous scope for growth.

Two Chinese companies, Guodong Network Communications and Bestway Global Holding, have ventured out for their maiden loans, seeking €150m ($170m) and $150m respectively.

Is banking due its own #MeToo moment? So far, there have been few whistle blowers in this testosterone filled industry, perhaps suggesting either that banks are much less sexist than some might fear, or that there are still a lot of stories yet to surface.