MUFG

China’s Bank of Communications Financial Leasing Co managed to raise the upper end of its $1.5bn target size at a tighter-than-expected level on Tuesday, a feat achieved despite a busy bond market in Asia.

MUFG has appointed three veteran bankers to senior positions in its Malaysian subsidiary.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has appointed Jason Mann as European head of financial institutions DCM, a role which will be based in a branch of the bank’s new subsidiary, established to prepare for Brexit.

ASM Pacific Technology is tapping the offshore loan market for the first time, raising a HK$2.25bn ($287m) five year borrowing to refinance a convertible bond maturing in March.

Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) has launched a $700m multi-tranche loan into general syndication, raising some debate among bankers about the tight pricing on offer.

On Wednesday, Deutsche Bahn sold its first bond of 2019, setting the bar with a €1bn 10 year deal that has a new issue premium of less than the 20bp limit that triple-B rated names had failed to tighten past.

After a run of triple-B rated corporate bond issuance, A-rated names have returned to the market and paid lower premiums than the higher beta issuers had, but 10.75 years remains the longest tenor to date.

As is becoming traditional in the European corporate bond market, car finance issuers sold the first new issues of the year. The fact the market had to wait just one day was a positive, considering that the backdrop was largely unchanged from the end of 2018, when the market had been difficult to access. However, there were some warning signs other issuers will do well to heed.

Berkshire Hathaway was one of five issuers to brave choppy conditions on Thursday and open the dollar market with the first trades of 2019.

The US’s Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) has picked two banks to provide the debt portion of its $74bn acquisition of biotech firm Celgene, in one of the biggest pharmaceuticals mergers in recent years.

The European corporate bond market had to wait just one day for the first new issue of 2019. Some participants had expected volatility in the global financial markets to result in a blank first week for corporates, but finance subsidiaries of Renault and Toyota opted to start their financing for the year on Thursday.

MUFG went to the buy-side to hire a new head of institutional investor sales for the US.