Northeast Asia

China’s green bond market has quickly become one of the largest in the world. But a big part of the market still does not meet international standards. Matthew Thomas reports.

There have been numerous attempts to kickstart a Belt and Road bond market. But bankers are confused what that means in practice – and investors are unsure why they should care, writes Matthew Thomas.

The Development Bank of Mongolia is ready to return to the dollar bond market after a six year hiatus.

China’s substantial liberalisation of its onshore capital market has given a new lease of life to the internationalisation of the RMB. But if the RMB is to succeed as a truly global currency, China must reverse measures introduced three years ago, provide access to hedging as well as liquidity and risk-management instruments, and eventually allow its currency to float. Paolo Danese reports.

Has a country’s financial and capital market ever transformed as quickly as China’s has in the last year or so? From the launch of the Bond Connect scheme to the long overdue destruction of barriers to foreign ownership of banks, insurers and rating agencies, China has made dramatic steps to open up to the world.

A spike in US Treasury yields on Thursday had a knock-on effect on bond spreads in Asia, posing an additional challenge for issuers ready to head out the gates next week.

Rating: A1/A

The Development Bank of Japan was able to tighten pricing on a €700m October 2025 sustainability bond this week, something not every issuer has found possible in the currency in the past few weeks. Meanwhile, the World Bank tapped an old friend for $200m with a green bond.

Mizuho Financial Group came to the market on Thursday with a five year senior bond in euros, just as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group did on Monday. This week’s Japanese supply has taken the year’s total to a new record.

The Asian loan market suffered a drop in volume in the third quarter, with bankers blaming a lack of event-driven deals, a deprecating renminbi and trade tensions for the fall. But all hope is not lost just yet, with a turnaround coming, writes Pan Yue.

Ganfeng Lithium is set to raise HK$3.3bn ($421.6m) from its Hong Kong IPO on Thursday after pricing shares at the low end of expectations.

As the clock ticks down to the end of 2018, Asia’s debt issuers and bankers are hoping for a rebound in supply. But they have to first face a number of challenges, writes Addison Gong.