IFR Asia

Asia Aluminum PIK holders officially hosed 27 June, 2009
Asia Aluminum was last Wednesday sold to a management team including founding chairman Kwong Wui-chun for US$475m. The sale followed a Hong Kong court ruling in a deal one hedge fund described as “one of the biggest stitch-ups in the history of Asian restructuring”.
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Citi riles market with ‘lowball’ Pertamina loan 27 June, 2009
Citigroup has been mandated to co-ordinate the US$300m three-year dual-tranche amortising loan for Indonesian state-owned oil refiner Pertamina.
Suzlon drops JPM for Deutsche for CB buyback 27 June, 2009
Suzlon Energy’s complex restructuring process has come to an end, and to a surprisingly happy conclusion.
Korean bankers scramble on new-issuance alert 27 June, 2009
ECM bankers are getting swamped with RFPs from prospective Korean issuers. However, the usual scepticism about such deals – that only a handful will eventually hit the market and then at derisory fees – prevails.
Eon Cap: thwarted warrant increases odds of Tier 1 hybrid 27 June, 2009
Prospects for a maiden hybrid Tier 1 issue by EON Capital have improved after Bank Negara Malaysia last week killed the financial institution's plan to issue warrants. The central bank's refusal took the company and the industry by surprise.

Top Stories

Eleven banks investigated for mini-bond misconduct: SFC 27 June, 2009
India eyes JBIC-backed Samurai for its offshore debut 27 June, 2009
Gajah Tunggal amends bond-switch terms 27 June, 2009

The financial crisis clarified one point. Beyond the Grade A office leases, the wood-panelled lobbies and the high-powered marketing, investment banks are somewhat ethereal institutions. They come, they go – they hire, they fire. They are as about as good as their advertising, with a lot of huff and puff standing behind logos that are routinely bought, absorbed and then abandoned through each boom and bust cycle. read more

Credit Trading

Bad news is no news, as markets lack direction27 June, 2009
Confused signals from the US all week gave Asian bonds little direction. To give just one example, an unexpected jump in jobless claims on Thursday night (Labor Department figures showed that new filings rose 15,000 to 627,000 in the week ended June 20, against an expected 3,000-claim decline) were ignored by equities.

Marketplace

Eleven banks investigated for mini-bond misconduct: SFC27 June, 2009
Bank of China has agreed to buy back Lehman mini-bonds sold to retail investors. Bank of China, one of the territory’s largest distributors of the product, has submitted a proposal to the SFC to buy back the products at 60% of the original value, said sources.