Twelve hedge fund houses unreachable

    CHINA’S asset management association said that it has failed to contact 12 domestic hedge fund companies after trying to contact them through telephones, emails and short message services.

    The rare notice, dated Nov. 23 and posted on the website of the Asset Management Association of China, comes as Chinese financial executives remain under increased regulatory pressure, with many being pulled in for questioning regarding insider trading, malicious short-selling and other irregularities. The fund association urged the 12 companies, all of them little known names, to contact it within five working days, or else would classify them as being “missing.”

    Fertilizer firm sees uncertainty in bond repayment

    JIANGSU Luling Runfa Chemical Co., an unlisted chemical fertilizer company, may not be able to pay principal and interest due on a collective 100 million yuan (US$15.7 million) note maturing Dec. 4.

    It said Tuesday in a statement posted on the website of one of China’s main bond clearinghouses that it was unable to do so amid severe business and liquidity difficulties. The company was contractually obligated to deposit funds for the 53.1 million yuan payment Nov. 20, 10 business days before principal and interest on the bond were due, but had so far failed to do so. If the firm is unable to make repayment, the bond guarantor Jiangsu Re-Guarantee would be responsible for doing so, the statement said.

    CITIC Securities inflates derivative business

    CHINA’S securities association said yesterday that CITIC Securities had inaccurately inflated its derivative business by 1.06 trillion yuan (US$165.92 billion) in a report submitted in September.

    In its monthly report to the securities association, CITIC Securities reported inaccurate numbers on its over-the-counter derivative business, the Securities Association of China said in a statement.

    Country Garden considers panda bond

    COUNTRY Garden is considering issuing yuan-denominated bonds sold by overseas entities on the mainland, known as panda bonds, as Hong Kong-listed mainland developers increasingly tap the domestic bond market.

    A Country Garden official said the coupon rate of the panda bond was expected to be slightly higher than the domestic corporate bonds rate of 4.2-4.95 percent. China’s seventh-largest developer by sales would use the proceeds to repay existing loans.