Southeast Asia

United Overseas Bank issued its debut covered bond in sterling on Wednesday, and the first from a Singaporean bank. Despite being its maiden deal, UOB was able to match the spread of more established sterling issuers. At the same time, Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) has mandated for a euro covered bond benchmark.

Indonesian rupiah-denominated debt will be eligible for the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Bond Index for the first time from June 1.

VPBank Finance is tapping international loan market liquidity for an up to $200m three year facility, which has two lenders at the helm.

Singapore Exchange on Monday revealed that it would replace its Nifty products with suitable successors by August to ensure that investors could maintain exposure to Indian markets.

United Overseas Bank has mandated joint leads for a covered bond roadshow in the UK with a view to potentially issuing its sterling debut. Singapore peer DBS Bank undertook a roadshow in the UK two years ago but did not follow up with a deal.

Philippine food and beverage conglomerate San Miguel Pure Foods Co is planning to tap the local equity capital markets for up to $1.5bn, according to an exchange filing on Wednesday.

Singapore is set to host its first IPO from Bangladesh, with Summit Power looking to hit screens in early March, said bankers close to the deal.

Vingroup is considering the spin-off and listing of its residential business Vinhomes in a deal that could be worth around $1bn, according to a source familiar with the matter.

A $310m two-part borrowing to support Malaysian surgical glove maker Top Glove Corp’s acquisition of Aspion is oversubscribed, with a handful of banks committing to the deal.

China unveils plans to kick start RMB-denominated oil futures next month, the Philippines gets regulatory greenlight for its Panda bond issuance, and foreign ownership of bonds in the interbank bond market rises again in January.

Indonesia’s Golden Energy and Resources nabbed $150m from a visit to the bond market but the market volatility cost the company, forcing it to pay the highest coupon for a dollar bond in the region so far this year.

The People’s Bank of China eyes bond market reforms, China’s FX reserves stand at $3.16tr after another month of growth, and Cambodia moves closer to replacing the dollar with the renminbi for trades with China.