HSBC and Bank of China are rethinking the earlier decision of halting mortgages to Evergrande customers as per sources. This comes after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) asked banks to explain the situation questioning whether staff and homebuyers had been told that new loans for two of Evergrande’s under-construction projects were being suspended. Bloomberg notes that while HKMA’s reasons are unclear, speculation is that government officials in China and Hong Kong will take steps to stem concerns on Evergrande. Last week, top banks in Hong Kong such as HSBC, ICBC, StanChart and BOC’s HK unit were reported to have stopped providing mortgages to buyers of Evergrande’s unfinished residential properties in HK.
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Separately, Asia Orient Holdings, a HK based investment company primarily involved in property businesses reported in a filing that it has bought at least $230mn in Evergrande debt over the past year. The company added to its position on June 9 during the sell-off and an affiliate made purchases about a week later. Bloomberg reports that the company is sitting on unrealized losses on its disclosed holdings. Asia Orient bought $39.7mn in Evergrande’s dollar bonds due 2023 at the end of September during a liquidity scare. At the time, the bonds fell to 76 cents from 91 cents on the dollar, and are currently at 58 cents. Some say that Evergrande’s chief Hui Ka Yan’s connections play an important role in these transactions with Nigel Stevenson, an analyst at GMT Research Ltd saying, “You do see the same names sort of cropping up”.
Evergrande’s dollar bonds were stable with its 11.5% 2023s at 58.8.
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