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Estate planning, important in any jurisdiction, is vital in Asia where so many companies are family-owned. A key concern for many in the region is how to protect their wealth effectively for their siblings or children who may one day take over the family business. Jigar Shah discusses succession and asset protection issues, with reference to the Ambani family, owners of Indian petrochemical heavyweight, Reliance.

Quarrelling with the Chinese is something most business people would prefer to avoid. But 61-year-old Maria Cattaui is hoping – in fact, positively lobbying – for a chance to be plonked right in the middle of it all. More precisely, the secretary-general of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is campaigning for a level playing field for foreign and domestic players in commercial arbitration in China. It is an area that has long been, and still is, dominated by a home-grown institute set up years ago by the government to settle commercial disputes amicably.

Two Australian mortgage deals are set to be priced next week, after a three month lull in issuance. The last offering was AMP Bank's A$645m Progress 2002-1 Trust, brought by SG in October. The first domestic deal to be priced should be GBS Receivables Trust No 1, a A$300m debut issue for Greater Building Society. GBS, with 250,000 members, originates A$700m of mortgage loans a year through its 53 branches in New South Wales.

The Republic of the Philippines courted its domestic investor base this week when it returned to the dollar bond market with a $200m one year zero coupon deal. The transaction was launched only three weeks after the sovereign had tapped its 2013 issue for another $500m, and bankers said the sovereign is already gauging bank opinion for a potential follow-up euro issue.

Japan Aozora Bank added another name to the Japanese securitisation market this week with the first issue from a new CLO master trust programme, via Morgan Stanley.

While the global equity markets are in turmoil, there is nevertheless plenty of institutional liquidity in the Taiwanese convertible bond market. Three more deals were priced in the past week, with the terms demonstrating just how adaptable Taiwanese companies have become as they hunt for fresh funds.

Universal Robina delayed, cut and upped the pricing on its $125m five year issue as concerns over North Korea and Iraq took their toll on the Philippines food company's financing plans. The issue was originally marketed as a $100m-$150m deal, at a yield of 8.75%-9%, and was scheduled to be priced last week. But the transaction was delayed until Monday, had to be effectively trimmed in size and was priced at par to offer a 9% coupon and yield, or 618bp over Treasuries.

AUSTRALASIA Australia

Australia CitiPower is preparing to start a roadshow for its upcoming bond issue next week, adding another name to a growing flow of insurance wrapped bond issuance set to start in mid- to late February.

Australia The outcome of the joint $4bn hostile takeover bid by Westfield and Simon Property Group for US mall owner-operator Taubman will be decided in mid-February.

Freddie Mac’s resolution to promote secondary bond performance in 2003 paid dividends this week when the agency shrugged off accounting problems to price what several bankers called its best euro deal yet.

Rating: Baa1/BBB Amount: Eu850m