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Leading the charge
Perennial frontrunner Australia and New Zealand Banking Group rose with the tide in 2023 to cement its position as the go-to house in one of the few bond markets to experience year-on-year growth.
Rising star
Relative newcomer Barrenjoey climbed to the top spot in Australasian ECM in 2023, leveraging its expertise and unparalleled appetite for risk.
Mega presence
In a sluggish year for the Australasian loan market, MUFG faced off intense competition, arranging long-tenor, event-driven and ESG financings, including several on a sole basis, and distributing them widely.
Creative structuring
Citic Securities is IFR Asia’s China Bond House for 2023 for its ability to come up with new structures and utilise its global platform to win business in a year fraught with challenges for China.
Quick to react
Strong cross-border capabilities and a deep understanding of regulatory changes allowed CICC to stand out in 2023, navigating a year with major policy shifts.
Spearheading innovation
China’s economy experienced a bumpy ride in 2023 and a real estate debt crisis exacerbated the challenges. Standard Chartered innovated with structured financings that tapped into different pools of liquidity, while bagging several sole mandates and bringing debut borrowers. For those reasons it is IFR Asia’s China Loan House of the Year.
Curtain raiser
Swire Properties’ public Dim Sum debut in July was a breakthrough for the borrower, and an important transaction for the offshore renminbi market.
Fearless execution
A HK$11.8bn (US$1.5bn) top-up share placement of Anta Sports Products showed high-quality Chinese issuers could still raise big money from the Hong Kong equity capital market through well-timed and reasonably priced transactions.
Deepening the market
AK Capital stood out among Indian bond houses for its efforts to develop the market by bringing new issuers and putting a focus on ESG.
Leading the pack
IIFL Securities won the lion’s share of India’s block business and showed its value in IPOs in 2023, highlighting its unrivalled ability to quickly place deals with a broad and strong investor base.
Gold standard
Copper and gold miner Amman Mineral Internasional stole the thunder away from deals in bigger markets through a Rp10.7trn (US$714m) IPO that came at a challenging time but brought investors handsome returns.
Leading the pack
CIMB fought its way to the top spot as IFR’s Malaysia Bond House of the Year, demonstrating its expertise in originating and executing transactions, coupled with the strength of its franchise regionally.
Moving up a grade
Khazanah Nasional may be a repeat issuer in the US dollar bond market, but its 2023 issue brought something new: credit ratings and its first non-Islamic tranche.
Partner of choice
DBS Bank retained its title of best Singapore Bond House in 2023, bringing variety to the Singapore dollar market despite a challenging backdrop.
Lion City awakens
Lloyds Banking Group’s 10-year non-call five Tier 2 bond in August marked its first marketed deal in Singapore dollars. More importantly, the British banking group was the first foreign bank to raise capital in Singapore after Credit Suisse wrote down its Additional Tier 1 bonds in March, making the Lloyds sale the Singapore Capital Markets Deal of the Year.
Adding value
In a year marked by tepid deal flow and cutthroat competition among lenders battling aggressively for mandates, DBS Bank notched up an impressive array of key roles to win IFR Asia’s South-East Asia Loan House of the Year.
Robotics boom
The W421.2bn (US$323m) IPO of Doosan Robotics demonstrated how South Korea’s largest IPO of the year could still be done at the right timing and valuation when many other listing candidates opted to pull the plug.
Proactive approach
Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank won key roles on corporate loans and sustainable financings in 2023, taking a proactive approach to manage rising interest rates and intense competition in Taiwan’s banking market.
One step ahead
Kasikornbank stood out from its competitors in 2023 for successfully navigating a dampened market environment and leading the year’s flagship Thai baht trades.
Shopping spree
Thai retail chain Ek-Chai Distribution System, or Lotus’s, sold a record-setting baht deal in 2023, raising Bt31.5bn (US$902m) just six months after its previous fundraising with a more successful issue, making it the standout Thai Capital Markets Deal of the Year.
PRC institutions take lion’s share of Asian investment banking fees, and are steadily expanding into overseas markets.
The Asian financial crisis showed how disastrous an over-reliance on foreign debt can be. What emerged in response Was a more domestically reliant local currency bond market in Asia, but the next stage of development will require a balancing act between improving liquidity and managing volatility.
A selection of numbers and charts that illustrate the events of 2023
Highlights of the year in black and white
A year in the life of bond banker reginald sellars
Alternative definitions of the year's buzzwords