Singapore

Korea Development Bank (KDB) made a rare venture into Singapore dollars, pricing a S$200m ($146.8m) three year bond. The deal was not only KDB’s biggest deal in the currency, but it was also the largest issue by a Korean name.

Reinsurance company Swiss Re has received the first RMB qualified foreign institutional investor licence in Switzerland. Meanwhile, Singapore-based UOB Asset Management has told GlobalRMB that it will launch three new RQFII products before the end of 2015.

In this round-up, Singapore deposits fell in the first quarter this year, Taiwan RMB deposits rose to a new record, Bank of China joined the new gold benchmark, and the first overseas inverse ETF shorting A-shares entered the market.

Singapore-based UOB has established a cross-border team focusing on its clients' RMB solutions needs, the bank said on June 17.

The renminbi is finding support from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) around Asia, according to a new survey by consulting firm East & Partners.

United Overseas Bank this week priced Asia’s first tier one Basel III-compliant bonds, getting an S$850m ($670.9m) perpetual non-call five deal away at just 4.9% — a level that even rival bankers grudgingly admitted was tighter than they had expected, writes Frances Yoon.