KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 (Bernama) -- CIMB Bank Berhad (”CIMB Bank”) has successfully priced its USD500 million RegS/144A Sustainable Development Goals Bond (“SDG Bond”) on 13 January 2022, marking the first ever RegS/144A SDG Bond to be issued by a Malaysian bank in the international capital markets. This USD SDG bond also marked the first ever 144A bond offering into the US markets by a Malaysian bank. The SDG bond complies with CIMB Group’s updated SDG Bond & Sukuk Framework, which is aligned with the latest market standards including the Green Bond Principles, Social Bond Principles and Sustainability Bond Guidelines issued by the International Capital Market Association, and was assessed as credible and impactful by second party opinion provider, Sustainalytics.
Kuala Lumpur, 18 January 2022 - SINOVAC Biotech Ltd. (NASDAQ: SVA) ("SINOVAC" or the "Company") released new data that shows that 95% of individuals who have received three doses of CoronaVac® possess neutralising antibodies against Omicron. The study, posted on bioRxiv, was conducted in China and examined the immune response of CoronaVac®, a β-propiolactone-inactivated vaccine, in 120 participants.
Results from the study supported the use of a three-dose immunisation regimen as the seroconversion rates of neutralizing antibodies against Omicron jumped from 3.3% (2/60) to 95% (57/60) for two- and three-dose schedules respectively.1 In those participants who received three-doses, researchers also isolated 323 human monoclonal antibodies derived from memory B cells, half of which recognise the receptor binding domain (RBD) and show that a subset of them (24/163) provide neutralisation of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concerns (VOCs).1 The World Health Organization (WHO) designates a variant as a VOC if it is associated with “increase in transmissibility or detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology, increase in virulence or change in clinical disease presentation, or decrease in effectiveness of public health and social measures or available diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics”.
Singapore, 18 January 2022 – United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB)’s subsidiaries have entered into agreements to acquire Citigroup’s consumer banking businesses comprising its unsecured and secured lending portfolios, wealth management and retail deposit businesses (the Consumer Business) in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam (the Proposed Acquisition). As part of the Proposed Acquisition, UOB intends to bring onboard the employees in the Consumer Business. The Proposed Acquisition will further strengthen and deepen UOB’s ASEAN franchise.
Citigroup’s Consumer Business had an aggregate net asset value of approximately S$4.0 billion and a customer base of about 2.4 million as at 30 June 2021, and generated income of approximately S$0.5 billion in the first half of 2021. Excluding one-off transaction costs, the Proposed Acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to UOB’s earnings per share (EPS) and return on equity (ROE).
