BEA and ICBC Asia price subordinated bonds

Two bank borrowers tapped the dollar and offshore renminbi markets with subordinated bonds on Friday amid a strong market rebound.

ICBC Asia became the first Asian bank to raise Basel III subordinated debt in the dim sum market with a Rmb1.5 billion $235 million bond. In contrast, Bank of East Asia BEA raised $500 million of so-called old-style lower tier-2 debt that has no loss-absorbency features and is not compliant with Basel III.

The BEA deal drew some criticism in the market when the leads Citi, Deutsche Bank and UBS unexpectedly hiked the final guidance. With a 10.5-year maturity, the bonds went out...