Activity in the Asia primary debt market was largely muted as the market digests the impact of Trump’s ban on investments in securities related to the Chinese military. ChemChina bonds widened 35-60bps on Monday as a result. Meanwhile, Chinese regulators are beginning to tighten their grip on the bond markets, announcing a ban on companies subscribing to their own debt issuances.
Newly formed holding company Aviva Singlife Holdings Pte Ltd (ASH) has priced S$550 million of 10.25-year callable subordinated notes at 3.375 per cent. To be listed on the Singapore Exchange, they will be issued on Nov 24, 2020, and the first call date falls 5.25 years later, on Feb 24, 2026. The Tier 2 unsecured notes mature on Feb 24, 2031. The new bond saw significant demand of more than six times oversubscription.
The People’s Republic of China sold its first negative-yielding government bond this week in a three-tranche euro-denominated issuance that that was dominated by yield hungry European investors. The Chinese sovereign priced the EUR750mn 5yr tranche at -0.15% in yield. The EUR4bn deal served to diversify their currency mix by taking the advantage of ultra-low borrowing costs. Significant amount of orders were allocated to European investors(>65%), with the 15yr tenor seeing the greatest allocation to EU investors(85%).
New issue pipeline remains slow with 3 new mandate outstanding from the ones announced over the fortnight.
