Southeast Asia

Asian bond issuers went full speed ahead with their fundraising plans on Monday, launching new deals ahead of Chinese New Year holidays at the end of the month.

Global law firm Dechert has hired Maria Tan Pedersen as a partner in its Singapore office, in a bid to expand and strengthen its corporate and securities practice in the region, it said on Monday.

Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup Joint Stock Co and its automobile subsidiary VinFast have exercised part of a greenshoe option on their joint borrowing, boosting the loan size to $525m.

The Securities and Futures Commission has fined RHB Securities Hong Kong HK$6.4m ($821,516) for failing to comply with a number of regulatory requirements.

Singapore-based Orient Futures International has become the latest trading and clearing member of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) derivatives market.

VPBank Finance Company, the consumer finance arm of Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank, has increased the size of its loan to $200m after seven banks joined during general syndication

Singapore-based aircraft leasing company Avation has obtained a green loan to support its purchase of aircraft.

More dollar bonds from Vietnam will come to the market in 2020, despite ratings agency Moody’s changing the government’s outlook to negative this week.

Indonesian company Astra Sedaya Finance has closed a loan of around $200m that mainly targeted liquidity among Japanese banks.

Southeast Asia is set to be an important source of business for loans bankers in 2020 as they search for opportunities outside of the slowing markets of China and India. A spurt in both inbound and outbound acquisition financings in the region is on the cards, writes Pan Yue.

Debt bankers and investors focused on Indonesia are eager to put the year behind them, after elections and a big dollar bond default dented issuance volumes. But they are optimistic about 2020, believing that the southeast Asian country could live up to its potential as a hotbed of high yield borrowing. Morgan Davis reports.

The US financial regulator has permanently barred former Goldman Sachs executive Tim Leissner from the securities industry, for his role in the 1MDB scandal.