The best arrangers and issuers in Asian capital markets were honoured at the IFR Asia Awards dinner at Hong Kong’s Four Seasons Hotel on April 14, with UBS picking up the top prize.
The awards ceremony recognised the outstanding deals, issuers and institutions in Asia’s capital markets in 2025, and the audience raised US$18,142 for Save the Children, continuing an association that has seen more than £34m (US$46m) raised at IFR awards events.
Gaetano Bassolino, co-head of Asia Pacific global banking at UBS, lifted the Bank of the Year trophy. The bank’s successful combination with Credit Suisse broadened its regional footprint and strengthened its coverage of sectors like technology, while it generated both deals and demand from its wealth management business. It won top-line roles in the year’s biggest equity transactions in the region, like electric vehicle maker BYD’s HK$43.5bn (US$5.6bn) follow-on offering and Contemporary Amperex Technology’s HK$41bn follow-on, as well as the year’s biggest IPOs in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. It also delivered bond deals for the likes of Airport Authority Hong Kong, Korea Development Bank and the Philippine sovereign.
Hong Kong public transport operator MTR Corporation was named Issuer of the Year, after it ramped up its activity in the debt market to help fund infrastructure for Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis project. MTR completed its biggest US dollar bond offering to date, its first hybrid issue and a HK$30bn debut green loan.
Alibaba Group Holding, Petron and Pertamina Hulu Energi also picked up awards for their capital markets deals.
DBS was named Asian Bank of the Year as collaboration between its debt and equity franchises allowed it to seize on a rebound in Singapore capital markets issuance, while continuing to expand its regional footprint and taking leading roles on huge overseas financings. Mildred Chua, group head of syndication and loan solutions, Baoshu Huang, managing director, investment banking, global financial markets, and Kelvin Lim, managing director, syndication and loan solutions collected the trophy.
HSBC’s Dan Kim, head of debt capital markets for Asia Pacific, lifted the award for best bond house, Shailesh Venkatraman and Siong Ooi, co-heads of the capital markets group for Asia Pacific at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, collected the trophy for top loan house, while Cathy Zhang, head of Asia Pacific equity capital markets at Morgan Stanley, took home both the best equity house and structured equity house awards.
IFR Asia would like to congratulate the winners and thank all who made the event such a success.
The event photos can be accessed and downloaded here.