Northeast Asia

China’s Panda bond market looks set to spring to life this year, with long-awaited guidelines said to be coming within the next two weeks. GlobalRMB takes an in-depth look at the potential for Panda bonds — and the hurdles that need to be cleared.

Sino-Ocean Property Holdings raised Rmb3bn ($469.4m) from the Panda market this week, which marked the issuer's first feat in the asset class in 10 months.

BAML’s Zaman off to the US — Citi’s Duffy leaves senior ECM role – StanChart names global strategy head

It is not always easy for bankers to keep up with the minutiae of their latest bonds. But one would hope they might at least know the size of these deals. Unfortunately, that is not always the case in China’s debt market.

Chinese property developer Country Garden Holdings was forced to pull a Rmb1.8bn ($281.2m) three year Panda bond this week after investors demanded a better return amid rising volatility, writes Noah Sin.

Bonds backed by standby letters of credit have fallen from grace, as tightening spreads in the dollar bond market and growing risk appetite among investors ensure that issuers can do without credit enhancement. Have SBLCs had their day in Asia? Addison Gong finds out.

Morgan Stanley was sole bookrunner on two overnight sell-downs in Asia this week. One transaction was for its Taiwanese private equity arm in shares of CTBC Financial Holdings.

China Shipbuilding Industry Corp (CSIC) bagged $1bn on Wednesday from an exchangeable bond linked to Postal Savings Bank of China’s stock, which has rallied this year. But the deal was more than just an opportunistic trade — it used a relatively rare structure in the equity-linked market, writes Jonathan Breen.

Hong Kong’s stock market is in the grip of another euphoria-driven rally, with the Hang Seng Index smashing record after record this week. As Chinese investors pile into equities, parallels are being drawn to 2015, when a similar China-led bubble ended in tears. But this time is different, say market watchers. John Loh reports.

South Korea’s Hankook Tire Co grabbed $300m on the back of an impressive $2.3bn book on Wednesday in its debut international bond outing.

Chinese state-owned Beijing Capital Group used a tried-and-tested approach for its bond return, replicating the structure of its debut deal a year ago. But its trade impressed nevertheless, priced with a negative new issue concession.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has agreed to strengthen financial markets cooperation with Switzerland's finance ministry, an effort that will encompass pushing forward China's RMB internationalisation agenda.