Yen

United Overseas Bank this week priced Asia’s first tier one Basel III-compliant bonds, getting an S$850m ($670.9m) perpetual non-call five deal away at just 4.9% — a level that even rival bankers grudgingly admitted was tighter than they had expected, writes Frances Yoon.

A decisive election victory for prime minister Shinzo Abe has paved the way for a ¥10tr stimulus package for Japan’s depressed economy. The reaction has been startling, with growth estimates being rapidly revised upward. But there are challenges that even Abenomics will struggle to tackle.

Japan’s banks are overflowing with deposit funding. Not only do they have little need to venture into the international capital market themselves but they can also easily fund the ambitions of the country’s corporates. That combination has kept issuance volumes depressed, but a number of factors are now converging to make an uptick in activity much more likely — in all asset classes.

China’s Ministry of Finance is planning to sell a Rmb1bn 15 year tranche as part of its Rmb23bn ($3.6bn) offshore renminbi bond offering at the end of the month, the first time it has issued in the maturity. That could lead to a boost in longer-dated issuance, said bankers and investors.

Bank of East Asia’s China branch raised Rmb1bn ($159m) from its second visit to the dim sum bond market late last week, offering a juicy yield pick up against outstanding notes from other lenders.

The appreciation of the renminbi has been a big driver of dim sum bond buying since the market opened less than two years ago, but increasing doubts about the rise of the currency have made investors more and more on yields. But there is still room for the currency to go up, according to Brian Jackson, a senior strategist at RBC Capital markets.

New World China Land raised Rmb1.5bn ($238m) from the sale of three year dim sum bonds last Thursday, returning just two weeks after its debut in the market — and becoming only the third issuer to ever tap a dim sum bond.

Hong Kong-listed New World China Land included a novel feature on its debut in the offshore renminbi bond market, adding a letter of support from its parent, New World Development, to give extra comfort to investors in the high yield issue.

Chailease Finance launched its debut transaction in the dim sum bond market on Tuesday, becoming the first issuer from Taiwan to launch an offshore renminbi deal this year. French bank Société Générale is also planning to add to the selection of the credits in the market, and is now plotting its own deal.

Ayala Land, the biggest developer in the Philippines, is approaching bond investors in its local market for as much as Ps15bn ($349m) of funding. The company is now pitching the deal to institutional accounts, but could soon bring in retail investors to help it exercise a greenshoe.

Standard Chartered says the lower tier two it issued in Singapore dollars on Thursday is just part of business as usual for the growing institution.

Hong Kong-listed Asia Cement (China) Holdings raised Rmb586m ($91.7m) in the offshore renminbi market on Friday, pushing ahead with the deal despite a rout in global markets that encouraged other companies to scrap their funding plans.