Topic
Bond market action from around the world with a focus on Dim Sum debt and dollar bonds issued by Chinese firms.
From wealth management to bonds and banking services, mainland China has shown further support for city as a financial hub
Close ties with mainland China have led to the latest unflattering report card from the ratings agency, but city can prove it wrong.
Strong bond market drives rebound by war chest that helps defend Hong Kong dollar and hopes are high it will continue.
The international ratings agency has stripped state-backed property giant China Vanke of its investment-grade credit rating amid concerns over its liquidity and ability to access funding amid declining sales.
The country’s second-largest developer has assured investors it has the funds in place to repay its outstanding offshore debts coming due soon, as its shares and bonds tumbled amid rumours about liquidity distress.
Finance chief also issues rejoinder after predecessor slams bond issuance proposal in new budget, says past administration failed to boost land supply at the time.
Finance chief shared in Wednesday’s budget address plans to issue HK$120 billion in silver, green and infrastructure bonds for financial year 2024-25.
Government anticipates strategy will help achieve budget surplus for 2025-26 financial year, with authorities to issue silver, green and infrastructure bonds over next five years.
The move aims to ‘efficiently convert residents’ bank savings into bond investments’ and help develop the country’s US$22 trillion bond market, central bank says.
Hong Kong has logged a deficit almost every financial year since 2019-20, with the shortfall ballooning to HK$101.6 billion in 2023-24.
Immediate scrapping of property curbs, issuing of large amounts of bonds for infrastructure among measures unveiled in finance chief Paul Chan’s budget address.
Global restructuring specialists have increased their headcount as rising defaults by Hong Kong-listed Chinese property developers requires them to enter into restructuring talks with creditors or face liquidation.
China’s next big impending change in the financial market is letting more foreign institutional investors into its onshore repo market.
China’s latest act is to invite more foreign players to its US$232 trillion onshore repo market. As a precursor, Hong Kong will treat Chinese government bonds and policy bank bonds as eligible collateral in its yuan liquidity facility.
Striving to reduce local government debt while boosting China’s local-level economies through investment is seen as a conflicting approach, while a decline in construction machinery operations does not bode well.
Saudi Arabia’s capital market is very attractive in the eyes of global investors, and its authorities are pushing for more regulation to enhance the market’s accessibility and stability, say panellists at the Saudi Capital Market Forum.
Hong Kong is set to continue capitalising on offshore yuan funding opportunities after ‘dim sum’ bonds and loans – offshore debt denominated in the yuan – grew exponentially in 2023, regulators say.
Saudi Aramco is poised to issue bonds this year with tenures of 15 to 50 years in a bid to optimise its capital structure, Ziad Al-Murshed, the company’s CFO, said at the Saudi Capital Market Forum in Riyadh on Monday.
The Shenzhen-based developer slumped 37 per cent to close at the lowest level since its 2009 listing as the market resumed trading after the Lunar New Year break, extending a slump in the past year to 76 per cent.
China’s property downturn and recent slew of defaults are unlikely to rattle overseas creditors or deter domestic banks from channelling resources towards cash-strapped developers, according to the American investment bank.
Liu Pak-wai, an economics professor and former government adviser, says city’s 6 per cent debt-to-GDP ratio could easily go up to 10 per cent without problems.
The 4.25 per cent, 2.5-year bonds were oversubscribed more than three times, totalling HK$15.69 billion (US$2 billion) from 175,178 applications.
The liquidation order could be difficult to implement as most of Evergrande’s assets are not in the three mainland Chinese cities covered under a cross-border scheme, according to S&P Global Ratings.
The bank will be the nation’s first big state bank to sell loss-absorbing bonds to plug a major funding shortfall before a 2025 deadline to meet global capital requirements
Exchange Fund added HK$212.7 billion (US$27.27 billion) last year, a stunning turnaround from the record loss of HK$205.4 billion in 2022. This is the third best annual results on record.
Airport Authority Hong Kong’s HK$5 billion (US$640 million) retail bonds are expected to be oversubscribed, but have not generated as much buzz as the green bonds the Hong Kong government issued in September, banks and brokers said.
The Foshan-based developer has listed five properties for sale in Guangdong’s provincial capital as it seeks to raise cash to repay debt due in the next six months.
Market players are calling on the city to keep its subsidies on green and sustainable financing beyond its May 2024 shelf life, after Singapore last year extended a similar scheme by five years.
State-owned companies will dominate as the age of ‘fast leverage and fast growth’ is over, and developers face brutal years ahead, analysts said.