Northeast Asia

Stock Connect volumes and a broader RMB offering played a key role in helping the Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX) turn a profit last year.

Brian Gu, one of JP Morgan’s most senior investment bankers in Asia, has left the bank to join Chinese electric car startup XPENG Motors.

The IPO filing season in Hong Kong is picking up steam, with a number of issuers submitting their applications for new listings this week.

China's SAIC-GMAC Automotive Finance wants to raise Rmb3bn ($473.7m) from an asset-backed securitization on Monday.

Hopes that green bonds will become an established segment of the sovereign bond market rose this week when Belgium launched its first one to an enthusiastic reception and Hong Kong’s government set out plans for a HK$100bn ($12.8bn) green bond programme.

The first of Hong Kong’s post-Lunar New Year IPOs got going this week. China Boqi Environmental Holdings hit screens with a HK$908m ($116m) transaction.

Modern Land (China) Co sold its third green dollar bond on Tuesday, as it remains the only Chinese green issuer from the high yield property sector.

Qatar National Bank and Bank of China kept the momentum going in the offshore renminbi bond market this week, with the latter’s Rmb4bn ($632m) deal the largest in nearly three years. Their success is an encouraging sign about appetite for the currency.

Senior fixed income banker Michael Luk has joined CLSA as global head of debt capital markets, after a one year stint with the Singapore Exchange.

Baidu-backed video streaming service iQiyi and Chinese hotel operator GreenTree Hospitality Group are readying a pair of US IPOs for the end of March to raise a combined $1.7bn.

Dongfeng Nissan Auto Finance will be returning to the Chinese asset-backed securities market on March 8 with a Rmb4.5bn ($710m) dual-tranche deal on the interbank market — the largest transaction by a foreign name originator so far this year.

Syndication of a $1bn loan for Lenovo Group got off to a roaring start with an encouraging turnout from banks at a Hong Kong roadshow this week. The Chinese company has made it clear it wants to recapture the top spot in the global personal computer market, but bankers are wary about how the firm will look to meet its goals. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.