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This is reflected in league tables: CIMB was ranked top for Malaysian ringgit bonds, booking M$28.7bn (US$6.2bn) of volume for a 27.6% market share. CIMB was the preferred arranger for sovereigns, supranationals and government agencies across ASEAN last year. As one example, it was joint lead manager and bookrunner on Khazanah’s notable US$1.5bn dual-tranche conventional and sukuk offering in May, the fund’s first rated issuance and its first conventional bond. Despite volatile marke
“China plus one” – diversifying away from China to other countries – was the main theme in 2023 for investors and investment banks alike. Weaker than expected economic activity challenged the conventional wisdom that China would always be the key source of growth, and led to another annual decline in bond and equity issuance across Asia. The year saw fund outflows from China, and one index provider even produced a benchmark for bond investors looking to reduce their China
Chinese banks have prospered over the past two decades as onshore capital markets have developed and Chinese issuers have, until recently, dominated offshore issuance in Asia. That has prompted many to ask whether Chinese investment banks can start eating into global houses’ wallet share internationally – or whether they even want to. Certainly, Chinese banks are leading the way in fee income in the Asia Pacific ex-Japan region. Ten years ago, Citic was the only Chinese bank in the t
The bank, which was founded in September 2020, topped the Australia/New Zealand equity and equity-linked league table in 2023. It raised A$3.8bn (US$2.6bn) for its clients through 24 transactions with a market share of 15.4%, according to LSEG data. Unlike international peers, Barrenjoey, which means young kangaroo, is locally managed and controlled. Barclays and Australian fund manager Magellan Financial Group have stakes of 18.2% and 36.4% respectively, while Barrenjoey’s staff own 45.4%
HSBC stood out as the best bond house in a year when deal volumes plummeted and risk appetite was in short supply. It not only worked on the most G3 currency deals in Asia Pacific ex-Japan, but also provided clients a variety of solutions to maximise investor demand and keep funding costs low. “The trick in 2023 was staying relevant to issuers in a market where issuance volumes were falling in G3,” said Sean Henderson, co-head of Asia Pacific debt capital markets at HSBC. “HSBC
Heightened volatility stemming from rising interest rates, geopolitical tensions, banking sector concerns in the US and a real estate crisis in China made borrowers cautious about raising debt in general and also put the brakes on M&A and leveraged buyouts. Against such a backdrop, HSBC produced an array of deals, including for debut and repeat borrowers, and also showed its syndication prowess with successful distribution into different pools of liquidity. “Against a volatile market w
The transaction was one of the most creative when it came to meeting not only the needs of the issuer, but also those of investors. Aware that there was plenty of investor demand at the short end, SK Hynix, rated Baa2/BBB– (Moody’s/S&P), kept its US$750m 6.25% three-year bond conventional, and it landed at Treasuries plus 240bp. SK Hynix tied a green label to its US$750m 6.5% 10-year tranche to draw demand to the long end, making it the trade’s most popular portion. Orders
The fact that the borrowing crossed the finish line comfortably despite that backdrop and deteriorating market conditions is impressive. In the process, the financing achieved some milestones, including becoming the first TLB to include a Hong Kong dollar-denominated tranche and the largest such multi-currency financing for an Asian credit. Split into a US$1.66bn incremental covenant-lite TLB and a US$220m add-on revolving credit facility, the financing started taking shape after private equity
Hong Kong property developer Swire frequently conducts private placements, as the company likes the competitive pricing the private market offers, but it rarely taps the public bond market in any currency. Its last public appearance had been in 2016 when it sold US dollar notes. Rising US interest rates and lower Chinese rates meant that renminbi was an appealing funding option. The offshore renminbi bond market allowed issuers to benefit from low rates while their deals looked relatively attrac
The bank was one of the two mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners of a US$1.5bn three-year borrowing for Quanta Computer – the island’s largest corporate syndicated loan in 2023. The financing was increased in July from a US$880m target after a blowout response with 21 lenders joining in general syndication. “We closed several jumbo and high-profile deals for our Taiwanese and overseas clients, which drew [an] overwhelming response from the syndication market amid a turbulent
It led many of the year’s benchmark transactions, including the Government of Singapore’s 50-year green bond reopening, giving it an annual issuance volume of S$3.3bn (US$2.5bn) for a market share of 25.1%. It also led the most Singapore dollar deals for foreign issuers, with a share of 24.4%, and continued to play a key role in global currency offerings. “We strive to be the Asian bank in global transactions,” said Clifford Lee, head of fixed income. “We feel that
The Chinese contract medical researcher, a unit of Hong Kong-listed WuXi Biologics, drew rare support from global institutional investors when most Hong Kong IPOs were dragged over the finish line with the help of “friends-and-family” orders. The second-largest Hong Kong IPO of 2023 showcased the city’s fundraising ability at a time when people had started losing faith in the once active primary market. Hong Kong IPOs raised just US$5.9bn in 2023, the lowest in 20 years and ran
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group laid the groundwork years ago for its sustainable finance business, and it is reaping the benefits now. While banks in Europe benefited from being in the jurisdiction that set most of the global standards for ESG finance, ANZ built up its sustainability capabilities while many Australian politicians were still denying climate change. “In Australia the private sector has had to be the leader in ESG financing,” said Katharine Tapley, head of sust
The SLL was the first to include carbon usage effectiveness as a key performance indicator and the first known financing by a data centre company to incorporate a gender pay equity target. The other three KPIs are operating power and water usage effectiveness, and gender diversity. The financing set an industry benchmark for its transparency, accountability, and ambition, having incorporated all three key sustainability topics of power, water and greenhouse gas emissions, which fits in with the
Australian dollar bond supply surged over 20% to A$212bn (US$139bn), including self-led transactions and excluding ABS, behind only the Covid-distorted A$236bn annual record in 2020 when emergency government supply was more than half the total. “Demand for Australian dollar bonds from Asia has recovered after their withdrawal during Covid, while higher yields everywhere have increased investor appetite for fixed-income instruments, including greater weightings from local superannuation fun
The Asian financial crisis dealt a nasty shock to corporates and sovereigns that had borrowed heavily offshore, as currency depreciation led to a wave of defaults, but that painful lesson has led to stronger domestic debt markets. In almost every aspect, from diversity of issuers and investors to deal sizes, Asia’s local currency bond markets have deepened and developed since the crisis unfolded in 1997. Asia’s robust economic growth over the past few decades has been the biggest cat
AK Capital ranked fourth for Indian rupee bonds with volume of Rs665.9bn (US$8bn) from 149 issues and market share of 9.7%, according to LSEG data. Public bond issuance revived in 2023, as bond portals mushroomed and tax changes encouraged retail and institutional investors to buy bonds directly rather than through debt mutual funds. AK Capital was one of the top arrangers of public bonds in the Indian market. It printed Rs54.8bn as sole arranger, a testament to its wide retail distribution capa
Lotus’s is a well-known name in Thailand, as the company operates a range of supermarkets and is part of CP All, which operates the country’s 7-Eleven stores. It was reacquired from Britain’s Tesco in 2020, and subsequently dropped the Tesco part of its name. The rebranded borrower hit the market at the end of 2022 with a Bt23.5bn four-tranche bond, but the transaction fell short of the maximum target of Bt30bn as the market conditions were poor at the time. The company readied
As the US raised rates and China eased monetary policy, the interest rate differential between the US dollar and the renminbi widened, making foreign currency loans less appealing. However, StanChart took advantage of the situation to assist borrowers in raising offshore renminbi loans with pricing based on the offshore CNH Hibor as well as the onshore loan prime rate. “We recalibrated our approach and led the market in the development of CNH loans and pioneered offshore dual-currency stru
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