China Merchants Bank
China Merchants Bank underwrote a total of Rmb33.86 billion ($5 billion) of various debt capital market products for other financial institutions between June 2017 and May 2018, putting it top of the league tables among Chinese banks and brokerage houses, according to financial data provider Wind Information Technology.
One noteworthy example was CMB’s success in helping distressed-asset manager Huarong Asset Management in issuing a 10-year bond last year with an annual coupon of 4.95%. The bond raised Rmb10 billion, helping Huarong improve its capital structure and reduce its overall financing costs.
CMB also helped leading life insurer China People’s Life Insurance to issue Rmb12 billion-worth of 10-year bonds with an annual coupon of 5.05% last year to strengthen its capital base and reduce debt.
Besides state-owned financial institutions, the bank also helped a number of privately held firms to raise funds from the bond markets, chief among them Gitzo Consumer Finance, which sold Rmb1.5 billion-worth of bonds with a three-year tenor and an annual coupon of 6.74%.
Overall, CMB ranked sixth in the debt capital market league tables, according to Dealogic, helping clients in 184 transactions with a total value of $43 billion between June 2017 and May 2018.
Led by chief executive Ma Weihua, CMB has long been known as the most innovative among Chinese banks. It employs a team of more than 4,000 information technology engineers in offices across China – staff who build online systems for the bank as well as for its leading clients.
By the end of 2017, the bank had more than 70,000 employees and operated a network of more than 1,800 branches, including six overseas.