South Korea

South Korea’s Jeju Air has wrapped up bookbuilding for its W154bn ($130m) IPO, which saw local investors clamouring for a piece of the action.

In this round-up, the Swiss franc set to become directly convertible with RMB, CCB gets a Zurich branch, QDII2 could launching in Shanghai FTZ, booming RMB trade in Korea, Los Angeles tries to get the edge, DBS launches in Qingdao to leverage Belt and Road plans, and CSOP launches two new China ETFs in New York.

The Republic of Korea has picked six banks for a bond that will include the first renminbi-denominated trade from the sovereign. The RMB portion is highly likely to be issued offshore but there’s also a possibility that the country will attempt to enter the recently reopened Panda market.

South Korea’s Woori Bank, which sent out a request for proposals for an offshore bond earlier this month, has hired banks to arrange meetings with investors.

South Korean game developer Nexon has sold all of its shares in rival company NCSOFT Corp for W605.1bn ($536m), ending a three-year relationship that failed to create any “significant synergies” between the companies.

South Korea’s first covered bond under its new rules finally came to fruition with Kookmin Bank selling a long awaited offering that had been in the works since June. But the delay proved worthwhile as the sovereign rating upgrade in September allowed the borrower to win over investors.

The Republic of Korea has sent out a request for proposals for an offshore bond to be issued as early as this month.

South Korea is set to see a long awaited covered bond this week, with Kookmin Bank finally starting to take orders for what will be the first such issuance since the government enacted new laws last year.

South Korea’s Woori Bank has sent out a request for proposals for an offshore bond, with plans to pick five or six banks to lead the transaction.

In this round-up, Hong Kong RMB clearing dropped in September, Macau's RMB deposits and cross-border settlement also fell in July, South Korea's RMB deposits kept contracting in September, and Bank of China Budapest branch formally launched RMB clearing services.

South Korean bond issuers have garnered a reputation for squeezing investors for every penny possible with aggressively-priced transactions. Investors may be critical of their tactics but the market needs to recognise the savviness of this strategy.

The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) has mandated four banks to arrange a non-deal roadshow that is set to begin on October 6.