Northeast Asia

China and Luxembourg made their first collaboration in equities on September 28, launching a green stock index. But experts say that while indices such as this are necessary for Chinese green finance to grow, they are not sufficient to ensure its success.

Overseas Chinese Town (OCT) managed to capture the last window before China’s Golden Week holiday to price a $800m senior perpetual bond. Malaysia’s Yinson Holdings had a similar idea, selling a $100m perp.

The head of credit for Axis Bank in Hong Kong has resigned and will be joining financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald in October, sources told GlobalCapital Asia.

Lionbridge Capital Co made a triumphant return to the dollar bond market on Thursday, closing a $160m deal it was forced to cancel earlier this year. But the market was not open to all-comers — Nan Hai Corp cancelled a mooted deal.

Despite a low turnout by shareholders, Carnival Group International Holdings has raised HK$1.7bn ($219.9m) from a rights issue of more than four billion shares.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) revises up its China economic growth forecast, China’s current account surplus falls to $69.3bn in the first half, and officials from the Philippines begin their roadshow for the country’s first Panda bond issuance.

International investors are recognising the progress that Abenomics has made in turning around Japan’s recently moribund economy. The long-awaited acceleration in domestic demand is finally taking place, while business confidence is high. But can this progress be maintained while inflation and government finances remain weak and North Korea pushes the region towards conflict?

Although the dynamics of the basis swap can make the yen market a volatile source of funding for international borrowers, the arguments for accessing it are compelling.

Japan’s banks have passed the stability test. Now their challenge is to build up profits — a difficult task when considering negative interest rates and ultra-thin lending margins.

While Japan remains the world’s largest creditor, its investors are not making much of an impact in the euro and dollar SSA bond markets. Instead, they are making their presence felt in Australian dollars and, as ever, the Uridashi market.

Despite disappointing volumes this year, from both a supply and a demand standpoint, the arguments for issuing in Pro-Bond format are as relevant as they have ever been and the longer‑term outlook for the market remains healthy. TLAC and MREL capital issuance could be particularly heavy — and lucrative.

Japanese retail investors have been keen buyers of ‘themed’ or ESG (environmental, social and governance) bonds for many years, and institutional investor appetite for green or socially responsible issuance is now growing rapidly. This is creating a wealth of opportunities for international and local issuers in the ESG market. A multinational panel of issuers in the global and Japanese capital market gathered to discuss the prospects for increased Japanese investor demand in this fast-expanding area.