Asia Roundup
Southeast Asian Issuers Flock to Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s red-hot IPO market is attracting South-East Asian issuers looking for exits amid illiquid domestic markets, IFR reported.
Indonesian fintech Akulaku, which was planning a US listing, is now looking at Hong Kong and could raise USD 300 – 400 million through an IPO there. Travel portal Traveloka is also weighing a proposal to list in Hong Kong through a USD 500 million IPO.
Thai food delivery, ride-hailing and e-payment service operator Line Man Wongnai is considering an overseas listing and is likely to take a final decision in a couple of months on whether the destination will be the US or Hong Kong. Big C Retail is also likely to revisit a plan to list in Hong Kong.
Vietnam Property Market Set for Shakeout in 2026
After a year of surging supply and prices repeatedly setting new highs, Vietnam’s real estate market is entering a new cycle that prioritizes cashflow discipline and legal clarity, The Investor reported.
Prices are unlikely to fall sharply across the board given persistently high input costs, particularly land prices, construction materials and financing.
At the same time, speculative capital has yet to return in force, investors are more cautious about leverage, and the “buy-and-win” mentality that characterized 2020-2022 has largely disappeared.
Bombay High Court Permits Banks to Resume Action Against Anil Ambani
A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court has set aside a single judge’s interim order that had restrained three banks and auditor BDO India from taking action against Anil Ambani, Bar and Bench reported.
The Bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad called the single judge’s judgment “perverse.”
SriLankan Airlines Seeks Consent from Offshore Bondholders
SriLankan Airlines is soliciting consent from the holders of its USD 175 million guaranteed notes due 2024 to approve proposals including an exchange into new sovereign bonds.
The flag carrier is set to hold a meeting with bondholders via video conference on 18 March 2026, according to its filing to the Singapore Exchange.
Indonesia Roundup
Indonesia Posts January Budget Deficit as Spending Jumps 26%
Indonesia posted a rare budget shortfall in January after the government followed through on its pledge to accelerate spending to support economic growth, Bloomberg reported.
State spending jumped 25.7% year-on-year in January to IDR 227.3 trillion, far outpacing the 9.5% increase in state revenue to IDR 172.7 trillion. It’s the most the government has spent on the first month of the year since at least 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Ministries and agencies recorded a 129% surge in their expenditure as they more than doubled funding for President Prabowo Subianto’s free meals program and other social aid. Capital spending also increased nearly seven-fold as the government invested in irrigation, connectivity and food security initiatives.
Moody’s Ratings earlier lowered the outlook on Indonesia’s credit rating to negative, citing risks to fiscal stability. A team from Fitch Ratings is visiting and meeting policymakers for assessment this week, said Febrio Kacaribu, the finance ministry’s director general of economic and fiscal strategy.
‘Vicious Cycle’ of Peer-to-Peer Loans in Indonesia
Indonesia’s digital lending boom has brought fast credit to millions excluded from traditional banking, but this has led to an exponential jump in peer-to-peer (P2P) debt over the years, CNA reported.
Outstanding P2P loans stood at almost IDR 90 trillion (USD 5.4 billion) as of September 2025, according to data from Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK).
Just a year prior, the figure stood at about IDR 74.5 trillion. This was a jump from IDR 3.9 trillion in outstanding P2P loans in 2018.
The agency has also been cracking down on non-authorised P2P lenders as well as authorised ones that have been implicated in criminal cases.
Indonesian Police Probe USD 1.5 Billion Money Laundering Linked to Illegal Gold Mining
The National Police launched a major investigation into a money laundering scheme linked to illegal gold mining operations in West Kalimantan, Jakarta Post reported.
The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) analyzed the illegal mine’s financial flows and found that trading between 2019 and 2022 had reached IDR 25.8 trillion (USD 1.5 billion).
The funds were traced through gold shops and refining companies using raw materials from the illegal mine, as well as through gold exporters, triggering the money laundering investigation.