Introducing Reginald "Reg" Sellars

Investors whining over IPO returns are hardly out of the ordinary. However, the decision of Societe Generale’s Chinese fund manager to suspend its participation in domestic floats has triggered an intense debate on the high pricing of PRC deals and the flaws in the country’s pricing mechanism. In a rare move, Fortune SGAM Fund Management, a joint venture between SG and Chinese steel giant Baosteel Group, said in a statement on its website on December 28 that it had decided to stop participating in A-share IPOs temporarily, claiming the number...

Commonwealth Bank of Australia kicked off another rush to issue covered bonds among the country’s biggest lenders on January 4. Its well received debut was also Australia’s first covered issuance denominated in euros. The bank became the fourth and final Australian major to issue in the senior secured format when it raised an impressive €1.5bn (US$1.94bn) via a deal that BNP Paribas, CBA, HSBC and RBS arranged.   CBA had intended to launch a five-year euro paper immediately after last November’s European roadshow, but postponed the issue,...

Export-Import Bank of Korea printed its largest-ever US dollar bond on January 4 with a US$2.25bn fives/10.25s combination that blazed a trail for other Asian corporate issuers to follow. The reception to the trade, which went roughly 40%, 40% and 20% to the US, Asia and Europe, respectively, lifted confidence of new Asian issues continuing to draw strong demand throughout 2012. “We found a window of opportunity to issue last week, and could easily have waited a week or so longer, but decided to go ahead while market volatility was low,” said...

Source: Reuters/Daniel Munoz A man walks past an Australia and New Zealand bank (ANZ) branch in east Sydney. Asian banks are set to ensure the yen remains a major alternative funding currency in 2012, despite unattractive cross-currency swaps and the reopening of the US dollar and euro markets. Two Australian banks are poised to reopen the Samurai market this week, tapping Japanese demand for high-quality financial paper. South Korean commercial banks look to be close behind, with a number of commercial lenders eyeing yen funding early this...

Source: Reuters/Arko Datta A shareholder fills a form before the Reliance Communications annual general meeting in Mumbai. Attempts to refinance a whopping US$22bn in total debt are likely to dominate proceedings in India’s corporate sector in 2012. Bankers are bracing for a string of defaults and restructuring efforts on the part of Indian issuers amidst an economic slowdown, rising costs of funds and a volatile global environment. The debt maturing in 2012 comprises about US$6bn each of convertible bonds and rupee loans and US$10bn of foreign...

PICC Property and Casualty last week said it had successfully completed its Rmb5bn (US$783m) domestic and H-share rights issue, hinting at the product’s continued appeal, despite depressed market conditions. The rights issue, the first from the largest non-life insurance company in China since it listed in Hong Kong in 2003, comes at a time when mainland financial institutions remain under intense pressure to raise capital amid uncertain market conditions. However, the overwhelming response to PICC’s fundraising shows that rights issues...

Source: Reuters/Alfred Cheng Jin Labourer works at cold-rolling mill on outskirts. State-owned Anshan Iron & Steel (Angang), a top-rated Chinese issuer, caused uproar on the first trading day in the PRC domestic bond market when it was accused of late payment of a maturing note. Chinabond, the country’s official bond-clearing house, said on January 4 that it had not received payment from Angang, which had Rmb5bn (US$749m) of three-year MTNs maturing at noon that day. In the announcement at 10:41am, Chinabond said it could not assure creditors...

Source: Reuters/Lang Lang Chairman and Chief Executive of Alibaba Group Jack Ma delivers a speech at the 8th Netrepreneur Summit in Hangzhou. Syndicated loan volumes in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) touched a record high of US$410.5bn in 2011, up 11% from 2010’s US$368.4bn and over US$10bn above the previous peak of US$397.5bn, set in 2007. This record was set despite the numerous challenges faced by lenders from the first quarter. At that time, rising funding costs and tight US dollar liquidity were already biting into some banks’ books and...

Source: Reuters/Crack Palinggi A woman counts coins donated to Prita Mulyasari in Jakarta. The Republic of the Philippines managed to price on January 4 a US$1.5bn 25-year Global at a new-issue concession of just 7bp. The move added to its track record of solid early January trades and confirmed its standing as Asia’s premier sovereign issuer. The narrow new-issue premium was a major achievement on a day when Mexico priced a US$2bn 10-year at US Treasuries plus 175bp for a 25bp premium and Brazil a tap of its due 2021s at plus 150bp, or for a...

India is pulling out all the stops to boost overseas interest in the country’s equity markets in a bid to support its currency. The move to loosen restrictions on foreign investors has raised hopes that the government will finally be able to kick-start its stalled state privatisation programme. However, analysts warn the measures may still not be enough to revive flagging risk appetite amidst continuing political rumblings and global economic instability. The New Year began with a bang for Indian regulators. The finance ministry announced it...

Jonathan Rogers, IFR Asia Senior Credit Analyst I HAVE WRITTEN before about the iron grip that Asia’s corporate oligarchs have over the companies they founded when the region’s business landscape was far less competitive than it is now – and about the risk they currently present to investors. Now, more than a decade into the new millennium, many of these impressive individuals are engaged in some kind of succession planning. For some such as Ratan Tata of India’s Tata Group, the process has been dignified, carefully considered and rational....

China granted its first investment licences for offshore renminbi funds at the end of December under a newly established renminbi qualified foreign institutional investor (RQFII) programme. The first 10 investors will be allowed to invest a total of Rmb10.7bn (US$1.67bn) in mainland securities using renminbi funds raised in Hong Kong. China announced the rules on December 16, setting an initial cap of Rmb20bn, and the first licences were issued on December 30. “This is another important measure enhancing the circulation of onshore and...