精选头条|China’s CBRC Cracks Down on Trust Financing for Developers

CBRC boss Guo Shuqing is ready to make developers sweat for their money

Leading the news today, China has taken another step to reduce lending risks to the real estate sector, as the top banking regulator takes a tough stance against trust financing for property developers. Also, Anbang shows it’s not yet done doing deals, as it commits $2.8 billion more to Korean insurance investments and the leaders of Hong Kong’s InfraRed NF show that they’ve never met Carson Block. Read on for all these stories and more.

CBRC Cracks Down on Trust Financing for Developers

Mainland regulators are tightening one of the last funding channels available to home builders under the nation’s shadow banking system, stepping up scrutiny on trust companies in an effort to curtail lending to the overheated real estate sector.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) will scrutinise violations in real-estate financing at trust companies, the China Securities Journal reported on May 23. 

Anbang Said Investing $2.8B More in Korean Insurers

Beijing-based insurance giant Anbang Insurance Group (Anbang) will reportedly invest up to 3 trillion won (US$2.68 billion) more in Tong Yang Life Insurance and Allianz Life Insurance Korea.

Anbang had purchased a 42% stake in Tong Yang Life Insurance, the eighth largest life insurer in South Korea, for 1.13 trillion won in September 2015. Last year, its holding company, Anbang Group Holdings, acquired a 100% stake in Allianz Life Insurance Korea from Germany’s Allianz Group for 3.5 billion won.

Transplanted Chinese Investment Firm Buys Melbourne Mall for A$45M

Chinese-backed investment firm iProsperity Group has pushed further into the Australian market, swooping on a shopping centre in suburban Melbourne in a deal worth $45 million.

The advisory firm for Asian investors announced it had bought Century City Walk, a shopping centre in Glen Waverley, in Melbourne’s southeast, with settlement expected in October.

AECOM Tishman Wins Deal for Greenland’s Spire London Project

Spire London is set to be the tallest residential tower in western Europe, standing at a 235 metres (771ft) high over West India Quay in London Docklands. It is already well into its first construction phase. Work will start on the basement and main build by the end of 2017.

Aecom has signed a pre-construction services agreement for the main construction works. 

US Senator Targets Kushner’s EB-5 Activities in China

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has called for an investigation into “potentially fraudulent statements and misrepresentations” made by companies promoting investment in a property development involving the family company of White House advisor Jared Kushner.

Citing a May 12 report by Reuters, Chuck Grassley, a Republican senator from Iowa, requested a review of claims made by Chinese migration agency Qiaowai and the U.S. Immigration Fund (USIF) in the marketing of the One Journal Square project in Jersey City, New Jersey to potential investors in China.

InfraRed NF Targets China Self-Storage Market

Rapid urbanisation and the growth of online retailing in China’s big cities have begun to spur demand for a sophisticated form of mini self-storage geared towards the tech savvy user, according to private equity real estate fund InfraRed NF Investment Advisors.

While the self-storage concept is familiar to many Americans, it’s still relatively novel in China, although that’s beginning to change.

Malaysia’s YTL REIT Buys KL Hotel for $89M

YTL Hospitality Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) has acquired another five-star hotel, the Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur, from parent company YTL Corp Bhd for RM380mil in cash.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Pintar Projek Sdn Bhd (the manager of the trust) said the property, on completion of the proposed acquisition, would be subleased to the vendor for 15 years with an option granted to the vendor to renew for a further 15 years.