Northeast Asia

China SCE Property Holdings scooped up HK$1.6bn ($204.5m) from an overnight block on Thursday that was timed to perfection, taking advantage of a share price rally to its highest point for the year.

KEB Hana Bank sold its first dollar Formosa bond and only its second floating rate note post its merger on Thursday, raking in $350m. Ample liquidity in Taiwan and investors’ hunt for offshore assets buoyed the transaction.

Driven by a rush to buy short term paper, Bond Connect flows through Shanghai Clearing House (SHCH)’s recorded their largest volume so far last week. But a closer look at the data suggests that markets are not getting the full picture of how successful the scheme has actually been.

ICBC International (ICBCI) has approached banks for a $500m syndicated loan facility with Agricultural Bank of China at the helm.

Entertainment and gaming company Landing International Development has added HK$1.8bn ($230m) in fresh capital to its coffers after placing a chunk of new shares.

The long-awaited expansion of the Hong Kong RMB qualified foreign institutional investor (RQFII) quota, coming at a time of increased appeal of China assets, has triggered a rush by global money managers to get a piece of the action.

Sun Hung Kai & Co set a personal record this week, selling its largest dollar bond at its lowest coupon as private banks flocked to the unrated Hong Kong financial company.

Zai Lab is set to kick off roadshows on Tuesday for its $150m IPO on the Nasdaq, according to a banker leading the transaction.

The Communist Party congress is set to kick off on October 18, the emirate of Sharjah plans the Middle East’s first Panda bond issuance, and Swift data says the renminbi was the fifth most used currency for payments globally in July.

Public sector issuers navigated a choppy start to the week to print strong dollar trades, but some SSA bankers worry that the problems that brought that early volatility are far from resolved.

The drama surrounding credit default swaps referencing Noble Group escalated this week as the Asia Ex-Japan International Swaps and Derivatives Association determinations committee on Thursday pushed back the deadline for ruling on whether Noble has defaulted.

The revival of equity-linked bond issuance in Europe was crowned on Thursday by the launch of one of the biggest deals this year, for ANA Holdings, which owns All Nippon Airways. Nomura was the bookrunner.