Asia Pacific 2011 Syndicated Loan Volume Set Record High At US$342 Bln

By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah SINGAPORE, Dec 3 (Bernama) -- Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) syndicated loan volume reached a new record of US$342 billion via 1,082 deals in 2011, a 27 per cent increase from 2010’s US$268.5 billion via 943 deals, according to Thomson Reuters LPC in its 2011 Review. It said the previous record high, in 2007, was US$288.4 billion via 894 deals. When Australasia and Japan were excluded, Asia volume jumped 31 per cent to US$171 billion from 2010’s US$130.7 billion. The largest Asia Pacific market (excluding Japan), Australia, saw its second-highest volume in history with US$108.6 billion of loans for 2011, soaring 70 per cent from 2010’s US$64 billion. Down Under recorded its highest volume in 2007 with US$110.5 billion of loans. Hong Kong and Singapore enjoyed record volumes in 2011. Hong Kong saw US$46.4 billion of loans in 2011 compared with its previous record in 2010 of US$40.3 billion. Singapore broke a new record in 2011 with US$40.8 billion of loans, compared to its previous record in 2008 at US$33 billion. The Lion City’s loan volume was at US$22.7 billion in 2010. Despite the devastating quake, Japan also saw record high volume. Its US$310 billion of loans was a 25 per cent jump from 2010’s US$247.3 billion. The previous record, in 2008, was US$273.5 billion. China loan volume reached US$27.8 billion, slightly higher than 2010’s US$24 billion. Another major market, Taiwan, saw its volume plunge to US$41.2 billion from the previous year’s US$55.3 billion. India offshore loan volume was at US$24.1 billion, a little over its 2010’s US$22 billion of loans. Meanwhile, India’s rupee loan volume dropped to US$55.7 billion from 2010’s US$66.3 billion. Three Australian banks topped the mandated arranger league table for Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) with ANZ as the lead, followed by National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Corp. HSBC topped the mandated arranger league table for Asia (excluding Australia and Japan), followed by Standard Chartered Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. -- BERNAMA