Singapore

Canada’s Manulife Financial Corp and Singapore’s Mapletree Logistics Trust have added their names to the growing list of issuers accessing the Singapore dollar market for subordinated debt. And thanks to the comeback of private banks in the country, more issuers — both foreign and local — are expected to follow suit, reckon syndicate bankers.

BlackRock has named Justin Ferrier as managing director of the Asian private credit platform, as the investment manager seeks to fill the gap left by banks withdrawing from traditional lending, it said in a press release on Tuesday.

The Singapore dollar bond market’s recent resurgence of private bank demand has prompted a slew of subordinated debt issuance with Manulife Financial Corp launching a rare insurance tier two and Mapletree Logistics Trust opting for a perp non call five and a half on Monday.

DBS has seen one departure each in its loans teams in Singapore and Hong Kong, according to sources.

Three banks have seen changes to their loan syndication teams in Asia following departures and internal moves.

Singapore’s army of private bank accounts were spoilt for choice this week with a triple-whammy of bank capital transactions that suited them perfectly — an additional tier one from United Overseas Bank and tier two offerings from Société Générale and National Australia Bank.

Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) is set to become Singapore’s first IPO of the year, a welcome development for a stock exchange that has suffered from plummeting deal flow. It may just be what the market needs to get going again, writes Jonathan Breen.

Manulife US Reit is set to price its $470m Singapore IPO at the top of guidance, according to sources close to the deal.

United Overseas Bank is set to end an absence of two years from the Singapore dollar bond market, and is taking orders for a Basel III additional tier one capital trade.

Derivatives post-trade initiatives are on the rise in Asia, said post-trade services operator TriOptima, arguing that the region is trying to improve its fragmented regulatory framework and adhere to global financial standards.

A Singapore-based banker who is part of the syndicated finance team at DBS will be moving to a new role next week, according to sources.

Fullerton Health’s planned $200m IPO will no longer feature Morgan Stanley as one of the leads, leaving JP Morgan and UBS as the two banks handling the Singapore-bound listing.