Bank of China
Bank of China was top of the league table for loan bookrunners among all Chinese banks and ranked second among debt capital market bookrunners for the year to May, according to Dealogic. The bank helped its clients – the majority of them state-owned conglomerates – to raise $54.4 billion in bond financings and $51 billion through loans.
BOC points out, for instance, that it is an issuing partner and adviser to the Beijing State-Owned Capital Management Centre, which operates under the State Asset Supervision and Administration Commission. SASAC controls all central government-owned assets, including controlling stakes in large state-owned enterprises, and the Beijing centre helps the commission manage the assets of Beijing-based SOEs.
According to the bank, it began issuing the first phase of a series of 2017 mid-term notes on behalf of companies associated with the centre in April. The five-year notes offered a coupon of 4.48%, but were impacted by market volatility caused by the US-China trade conflict as investors’ risk aversion rose and bond market yields declined then subsequently rose rapidly.
BOC bankers also point out they are lead underwriters for various bonds sold to global investors recently by Central Huijin Investment, the Beijing-based state-owned asset manager that controls majority stakes in the nation’s largest financial institutions, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China itself.
In April, for instance, the bank successfully helped Central Huijin raise $2.4 billion through the sale of third and fourth interim notes for 2018 to various foreign investors via Bond Connect in Hong Kong. The sales marked the first global offering by Central Huijin via the Bond Connect.