Yen

The Republic of the Philippines is looking at two benchmark sized transactions in the second half of the year, to be denominated in dollars and yen, a source at the Bureau of the Treasury told GlobalCapital Asia this week.

The Republic of Indonesia returned to the public yen market on Thursday for a ¥100bn ($913.76m) four-tranche transaction, navigating challenges around emerging markets volatility and its rising dollar bond yields.

Green bonds have become one of the hottest topics in finance, taking their place alongside project finance and China’s Belt and Road as the necessary buzzwords on every investor’s lips. But green financing is more than just a passing fad for Japan’s strongest issuers. In a market defined by a famously rigid investor base, they are attempting to build a market that can be sustainable in every sense of the word. GlobalCapital sat down with some of Japan’s leading issuers, analysts, bankers and policy bankers to discuss where green and social financing is heading.

It might be easy to imagine that Japan’s top credits have an easy time accessing the international bond market. Compared to high yield or debut issuers, that may be so. But a strong rating and an important role in public policy bring with them certain responsibilities — not least of which is keeping funding costs down. The rise in dollar interest rates, and the volatility that is sure to result, thus represents a conundrum for these issuers. What is the right price for a dollar bond? What is the correct attitude to maturity adjustment? GlobalCapital asked these and other questions during a roundtable discussion that took place in Tokyo shortly before the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2018.

Japanese investors’ desperation to boost their yields is helping them shed an ultra-conservative image that has long defined them. The move is overdue but as more international borrowers turn to the yen markets for funding, the increasing flexibility of the buy-side is helping to usher in new structures and international standards. Rashmi Kumar reports.

Japanese issuers are tapping the international bond market in droves, pushing volumes to a record in 2017. The market is set to get a further boost this year, as more corporations enter the fray. Rashmi Kumar reports.

India’s Reliance Jio Infocomm has launched the biggest Samurai loan from an Asian company into general syndication, as it looks to leverage on Japanese onshore liquidity.

Reliance Jio Infocomm, the mobile network operator controlled by India’s Reliance Industries, has raised ¥53.5bn ($498m), the largest Samurai loan for an Asian corporation.

Public sector bankers lined up to laud a new SSA borrower this week, as the International Development Association (IDA) surpassed expectations on its bond debut. Now, many are eager to see the its next move, with many anticipating a Washington supranational with greater currency flexibility, writes Craig McGlashan.

Indian power financier National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC) has closed its $350m-equivalent yen-denominated borrowing, attracting eight Japanese participants.

China Eastern Airlines Corp has raised ¥50bn ($468m) in Tokyo’s Pro-Bond market, breaking new ground in Japan with a standby letter of credit (SBLC) structure. Some bankers reckon the deal could be the first of many to come.

Two Indonesian finance companies that serve customers in the automobile sector have launched deals in quick succession.