Japan

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank brought its debut euro deal to the market on Tuesday as it looked to diversify its funding, racking up more than €2.3bn of demand.

Japanese issuers are not frequently seen in the European corporate bond markets, but this week could have two companies going head to head with benchmark euro transactions. Japan Tobacco will sell its first new issues in Europe, while Toyota is better known to investors on the continent.

Japan’s Hitachi Capital Corp has added to the recent flurry of issuance in offshore renminbi, bagging Rmb600m ($87m) on Monday from its second CNH transaction in a year.

Sumitomo Forestry, the Japanese forestry company that specialises in housing, became the first ever issuer of a green convertible bond this week, pricing a ¥10bn ($90m) five year zero coupon note.

Barclays was looking to sell two tranches of callable senior debt in the yen market this week, following a similar total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) eligible offering from HSBC in Japan.

Asset Value Investors, the UK money manager, is seeking to raise £100m to £200m of capital in an initial public offering in London, to invest in a small portfolio of Japanese stocks and agitate for them to distribute cash to shareholders.

Banks that deal in Yankees, including Nordea, HSBC and BPCE, raised $16bn in new funding as the market reopened with a bang after the Labor Day holiday.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank announced a mandate on Monday for its first ever euro-denominated bond. The senior notes will finance green projects. Meanwhile, new issuer Euroclear Bank completed a deal last Friday.

It is high time that the famously conservative Japanese market started embracing new practices. There are signs that modernisation is afoot.

More borrowers could look to the Euroyen format as a new funding tool in Japan, after BNP Paribas proved very popular with its offering of non-preferred senior notes this week.

Goldman hires from IMF — UBS adds to debt origination — Bank Alfalah, CLSA ink pact for Pakistan — Credit Suisse taps Japan CEO — PNB scoops up former HSBC banker

BNP Paribas is marketing two tranches of non-preferred senior debt in Euroyen format, in what has been an impressive year for the market's supply of debt from foreign banks.