Curbs on corporate bond issues may be lifted

    CHINA’S top economic planner is considering easing requirements on corporate bond issues to help boost economic growth by supporting construction and some types of consumption, the Economic Information Daily reported yesterday.

    The National Development and Reform Commission, one of the regulators that approves certain types of bonds, plans to remove quotas on some corporate bonds that are linked to investments in key construction projects, according to the newspaper, which is run by Xinhua. The newspaper added that qualified companies engaged in consumption-related businesses would also no longer be subject to an overall bond quota.

    Ping An, Russell agree to end joint venture

    PING An Insurance Co. said Tuesday its joint venture with Russell Investment Management has been terminated after four years of partnership.

    Ping An declined to provide further details on why the cooperation has ended and whether it would buy the stake previously held by Russell. The joint venture — Ping An Russell Investment Management — was established in March 2011 by the two companies and manages assets valued at about US$1.1 billion. Ping An holds a 51 percent stake in the joint venture, which invests in Chinese equities and bonds, while Russell holds the remaining shares.

    BoCom buys 80% of Brazil’s BBM

    BANK of Communications Co. (BoCom) has bought around 80 percent of Brazilian lender Banco BBM SA for about 525 million real (US$173.13 million) in BoCom’s first overseas acquisition.

    The deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions by Chinese banks, which are increasingly expanding their presence abroad to service domestic firms going overseas even as profit growth wanes and nonperforming loans rise at home. BoCom will finance the deal using its own internal funds, it said in a statement yesterday. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

    BP, Sinopec start bunker fuel joint venture

    BRITISH oil major BP and China’s Sinopec Fuel Oil are starting a Singapore-based joint venture in ship fuel storage and sales, BP said in a statement Tuesday.

    The 50/50 joint venture, which builds on a similar agreement signed in 2011, will leverage both companies’ existing bunkering locations and activities to deliver marine fuel to their customers, with a strong focus on Chinese shipping companies, BP said.