Equity capital markets
Activity in the equity capital markets totalled $1.3 billion through 14 issues during the past week, up slightly from the $1.2 billion raised during the previous week and bringing total year-to-date volume to $107.9 billion, down 16% on the $128.9 billion raised in the same 2011 period.
Sean Cunningham takes on the newly created role at the asset manager in Singapore; he was most recently head of Asia ETFs at JP Morgan Asset Management in Hong Kong.
Franklin Templeton's Jenny Johnson points to collateral management and lower servicing costs as reasons for adoption, while banks’ existing infrastructure limits faster settlement.
Edmund Leong, head of Group Corporate Banking and Investment Banking at UOB, explains to FinanceAsia how Asean’s evolution into an even more dynamic end-market is enticing corporates to scale across borders – in turn driving demand for integrated financing, advisory and capital markets solutions. And those banks with regional reach and local expertise should be pivotal to the region’s next growth phase.
Capital is flowing back into Asian debt markets, but investors are becoming increasingly selective. Fitch Ratings says stronger sovereigns and their banks and corporates continue to access funding, while rising oil prices, currency pressures and external vulnerabilities are sharpening the differentiation with weaker credits.