United States

Chinese biopharmaceutical company Zai Lab has appointed a pair of firms to lead its US listing, as a host of other Mainland companies also prepare to float across the Pacific.

The People’s Bank of China puts preventing systemic risk as a priority in its quarterly policy report, China’s non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) falls in the first half, and US president Donald Trump wants to start an investigation into potential Chinese violation of US intellectual property policy.

British American Tobacco’s $21bn-equivalent raid on corporate bond markets either side of the Atlantic took all the headlines this week, but while it was the only story in Europe, the US market saw plenty of other deals.

Nasdaq-listed Chinese biopharmaceutical firm BeiGene has bagged $175m from a follow-on public offering of American Depositary Shares (ADSs).

UBS has brought one of its most seasoned executives in Asia out of retirement to take up a senior position in the investment banking unit.

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The US investment grade corporate bond enjoyed a huge week of issuance as nine borrowers printed deals on Monday before British American Tobacco delivered $17.25bn on its own on Tuesday and plenty more came on Wednesday and Thursday. Bankers predict another heavy week to follow before supply slows for the traditional summer break.

Filecoin, one of the first cryptocurrencies to function in explicit compliance with SEC securities regulation, is set to launch on Thursday on a platform called Coinlist, a fund-raising platform to help start-ups run their own "initial coin offerings". The offering is a test of whether the controversial capital raisings can function in accordance with rules designed for shares and bonds.

British American Tobacco set fire to any notion that markets close in August this week with a $20.8bn bond bonanza. It brought a $17.25bn eight tranche deal on Tuesday — the second largest bond transaction of the year in the US — and followed that with a €3.6bn-equivalent four tranche dual currency deal in Europe on Wednesday. Nigel Owen reports.

US electric car firm Tesla was roadshowing a $1.5bn eight year debut bond offering this week. The company can do no wrong in many observers’ eyes, although stripped back documentation is likely to deter at least some investors from the deal.

European corporate bond markets remain focused on British American Tobacco’s multi-tranche deal expected later this week. However, nine different investment grade issuers printed new issues in the US on Monday, making it the most varied day of 2017 so far.

UBS attracted around $7bn of demand for Monday’s dollar deal after announcing it at the start of the London market.