IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Updated: 2011-11-26 06:51

(HK Edition)

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HKMA: Sponsors must lift standards

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, which regulates five financial institutions that sponsor initial share sales, including JPMorgan Chase & Co and UBS AG, said sponsors should raise due diligence standards and improve management supervision.

The city's central bank conducted onsite examinations between the fourth quarter of 2010 and second quarter of 2011 and found cases where guidance on how to deal with "suspicious scenarios" was deficient and where management didn't review due diligence work, according to a report released on Friday.

Baosteel sells 3.6b yuan bonds

Baosteel Group Corp sold a record 3.6 billion yuan ($565 million) of yuan-denominated bonds in Hong Kong, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The company sold 1 billion yuan of 3.125 percent two-year notes, 2.1 billion yuan of 3.5 percent three-year bonds and 500 million yuan of five-year notes to yielding 4.375 percent, a person familiar with the deal said on Friday, asking not to be identified as details are private.

Coach plans to list depositary receipts

US-based leather goods firm Coach Inc applied for listing of depositary receipts on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, according to a statement to the city's bourse on Friday.

Trading of the depositary receipts may start on Dec 1, it said. Coach will retain its primary listing on the New York Stock Exchange, it said.

Agile stops land purchases

Agile Property Holdings Ltd, the Chinese developer in which JPMorgan Chase & Co owns a stake, said Friday it will stop buying land until at least February and is slowing construction at some projects as sales dwindle amid the government's property curbs.

Developers are lowering home prices on the outskirts of major cities to combat slowing sales after the government expanded property curbs this year including raising the down-payment and mortgage requirements, and imposing purchase restrictions in about 40 cities to avert an asset bubble. China's home prices in October had the worst performance this year, falling in 33 out of 70 cities monitored by the government from September.

Stocks decline as euro bonds rejected

Stocks fell on Friday, sending the Hang Seng Index (HSI) to its biggest weekly drop since September, after German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out joint euro-area borrowing and a bigger role for the European Central Bank in fighting the debt crisis.

The HSI dropped 1.37 percent to 17689.48 at the close, with all but six stocks falling in the 46-member gauge. The index fell 4.3 percent for the week, the steepest weekly decline since the period ended Sept 23. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index declined 1.78 percent to 9395.91.

Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 0.2 percent on Friday. The US market was closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving. HSBC fell 1.7 percent to HK$56.10, its lowest close since April 2009. Cosco Pacific Ltd dropped 2.9 percent to HK$8.47.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said during a meeting in Strasbourg on Thursday that he, German Chancellor Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti had agreed to refrain from making demands of the independent ECB. French officials have suggested the body play a greater role in solving the crisis, perhaps by stepping up purchases of bonds issued by troubled countries. Germany and ECB President Mario Draghi are opposed to printing money to ease the financing squeeze.

Futures on the HSI slid 1.3 percent to 17645. The HSI Volatility Index rose 1 percent to 36.10.

Bloomberg - Reuters

(HK Edition 11/26/2011 page2)