Northeast Asia

Outstanding bonds issued by Vivat NV, the Dutch insurance group, suffered on Friday morning after its parent company Anbang Insurance Group was seized by Chinese authorities — but a sale to a European firm could provide an upside for bondholders.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) has released its long-awaited guidelines on dual-class shares, clearing the way for Chinese firms such as Alibaba Group Holdings to have a secondary listing in the city for the first time.

Redco Properties Group priced an opportunistic transaction on Thursday, raising a larger-than-expected $300m. Unlike some other 364-day deals, its transaction saw strong support from real money accounts.

Chinese leasing firm Far East Horizon was one of the first issuers to reopen the international bond market after a lull of more than a week, raising $300m from a dual-currency transaction on Thursday. But it was forced to pay up for the dollar portion due to lingering volatility in the market.

China is aligning itself with central banks around the world by giving the People’s Bank of China a leading role in regulating financial markets, Xu Zhong, head of the research bureau at the PBoC, has argued.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) takes control of Anbang Insurance Group amid concerns over its finances, Fullerton Fund Management offers its first private fund in the onshore market, and the renminbi remains the fifth most used payments currency in January 2018.

The Republic of Turkey is preparing to issue its first Panda bond by the end of the year, having mandated three banks to handle the deal.

MUFG Securities Asia has named Royal Bank of Scotland veteran Pierre Ferland as its new chief executive.

Chinese issuers are back following the Lunar New Year break. Far East Horizon and Redco Properties Group are both wooing bond investors, effectively reopening the dollar debt market in Asia.

The People’s Bank of China has laid out its next moves to upgrade the domestic bond markets, including better market standards, clearer default rules and further opening to foreign investors — steps that could make regulators less active in the corporate debt market.

Chinese financial services provider Far East Horizon is pursuing the sale of a dollar-denominated and offshore renminbi bond.

MUFG Securities Asia has appointed Royal Bank of Scotland veteran Pierre Ferland as its new chief executive officer, effective on February 20.