IN BRIEF
Covalent Capital
Bond issuance platform to launchFintech startup COVALENT CAPITAL is planning on
launching its bond issuance platform OMAS
next month, its chief executive and founder
Sanjay Garodia said.
The Singapore-based company recently
completed the beta testing of OMAS with a
group of 12 banks and 50 institutional investors
and is planning on going live with the final
version by the end of November.
OMAS acts as a marketplace for issuers, banks
and investors in the primary debt capital
markets with the aim of streamlining the
process for issuing bonds.
By creating a centralised platform for
communicating orders and allocations, OMASis designed to remove a lot of the duplication
currently involved in bookbuilding.
“It covers the full life-cycle of any new issuance- from roadshow through to allocations –
although it is flexible enough to allow banks to
choose which parts of the system to adopt,” said
Garodia.
He said that Covalent would target the G3 and
Singapore dollar bond markets to begin with but
would look to expand its offering later including
to other asset classes potentially.
Rivals including London-based Origin and US-
headquartered Ipreo offer similar bookbuilding
platforms and have recently begun expanding
into Asia.
Infrastructure Asia
Singapore launches new agencySingapore launched a new government agency
last Tuesday to support infrastructure projects
across Asia, referred to as INFRASTRUCTURE ASIA.
The global financial hub's decision to position
itself as a broker for regional infrastructure
investment comes as China ramps up efforts
to fund and build transport and trade links in
dozens of countries as part of its Belt and Road
Initiative.
Infrastructure Asia will be led by the Monetary
Authority of Singapore and Enterprise
Singapore, an arm of the trade ministry.
Asia faces an annual investment gap of
US$460bn for infrastructure, according to
estimates from the Asian Development Bank.
Analysts say some governments have struggled
to prepare infrastructure deals in a way that
is 'bankable' and attracts private sector
investment.
"With better knowledge, skills and resources, wePeople
&Markets
China to support POE fundraising
China will help private companies raise
funds in capital markets as part of a series
of measures to address slowing growth, the
government said.
Commercial banks historically have
preferred to lend to state-owned enterprises
rather than private companies, which are
viewed as being less creditworthy.
4HEIRûACCESSûTOûCREDITûFURTHERûSHRANKû
after Beijing opened a campaign against a
build-up of corporate debt and off-balance-
sheet loans, the chief source of the private
SECTORSûlNANCING
Economists say the problems for
companies are one reason the economy is
SLOWINGû'$0ûGROWTHûINûTHEûTHIRDûQUARTERû
SLOWEDûTOû ûTHEûLEASTûSINCEûTHEûlRSTû
quarter of 2009.4HEûCENTRALûBANKûHASûTAKENûAûNUMBERûOFû
steps this year to spur commercial banks
to lend. But authorities have so far stopped
short of massive credit stimulus, concerned
about undoing their multi-year campaign
to reduce corporate leverage and curb risky
lending practices.
4HEû0EOPLESû"ANKûOFû#HINAûWILLûPROVIDEû
initial funding to institutions that can
HELPûENHANCEûTHEûCREDITûPROlLEûOFûPRIVATEû
companies that are operating normally but
FACEûTEMPORARYûLIQUIDITYûDIFlCULTIES ûSAIDû
the State Council, or cabinet, in a statement
on its website.
When the conditions are ripe,
commercial banks and insurance
companies can be guided to participate on a
voluntary basis in the funding to share therisks, it said.
In recent weeks, the government has
repeatedly declared its support for private
enterprises, even as state-owned enterprises
AREûENCOURAGEDûTOûBECOMEûSTRONGERû4HEû
private sector accounts for 60% of China’s
'$0ûANDûûOFûURBANûJOBS
4HEûGOVERNMENTûWILLûALSOûSTEPûUPûSUPPORTû
FORûSMALLûANDûMEDIUM
SIZEDûlNANCIALû
INSTITUTIONSûWITHûRElNANCINGûNEEDS ûTHEû
State Council said.
4HEû3TATEû#OUNCILûDISCLOSEDûTHEûPLANSû
AFTERûAûMEETINGûLEDûBYû0REMIERû,Iû+EQIANG
In a later statement last Monday, the
central bank said it would boost re-lending
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DISCOUNTûQUOTASûBYû2MBBNû
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RYAN WOO, STELLA QIU