Alternative definitions of the year’s buzzwords
Admiralty Harbour
Where offshore vehicles dock after hitting the rocks
AI-powered
Fair marketing claim, as long as your business uses computers
Archegos
Proof that being banned from trading in Hong Kong doesn’t have to limit your career
Beijing Stock Exchange
Niche market for issuers that weren’t quite right for the four existing boards in Shanghai and Shenzhen
Bond buyback
Attempt by an issuer to reassure investors that its US$50bn of debt is manageable by repurchasing US$10m of paper in the secondary market
Carrie trade
Going all-in on China
China-to-US listing
Critically endangered species
Coffee break
When supply chain problems keep M&S from restocking espresso
Common prosperity
A national movement to depress stock prices
Cool wall
Where bankers pin the tech deals that traded up
Cyberspace
Virtual territory now regulated by China
Didi
Expensive ride-hailing service that takes you right back to your starting point
Dim Sum
A dish served mainly by the Chinese government
EV
Excessive valuations
Evergrande
Never that grand
Exchange offer
In the Chinese high-yield sector, a generous offer for existing bondholders to accept either new paper or a 10% recovery rate in bankruptcy
Fantasia
New f-word for bond investors
Fintech start-up
Job scheme for out-of-favour bankers
Grab
To seize the top of the market
Grace period
Thirty-day loan
Greensill
Financing company that invented future receivables, where money was raised based on transactions that might never happen, and due diligence that seemingly didn’t
Homecoming
A ceremony welcoming back former members of the community, often involving a game of political football
Hybrid work
1. Splitting time between the home and office;
2. Trying to make a subordinated perpetual bond qualify for equity accounting treatment even though the issuer is going to redeem it in five years
Kaisa
To default once is unfortunate, twice is careless
Libor transition
Banking’s even less eventful version of the Y2K bug
NFTs (non-fungible tokens)
A digital Rolex for Millennials
Paytm
A digital payments system that takes money out of the pockets of shareholders
Penny’s Bay
Resort where Hong Kong’s bankers spend their block leave
Pride
Something that diversity-friendly investment banks suppress when it comes to certain countries in Asia
Quarantine
Applicable to all visitors to Hong Kong, apart from chairmen of economically significant banks and the lady who played Aquaman’s mum
Refinancing wall
Signature structure of many Chinese property developers
Second-party opinion
Sought by senior government figures worried that holding drinks events during lockdown might be a bad idea
SPAC
Outmoded US fashion looking for a second life in Asia
Sustainability-linked
The weakest link for ESG investors
US blacklist
a.k.a. Hong Kong IPO pipeline
VIE
Surprisingly resilient legal sandcastle
Zero Covid policy
A deflationary strategy
Zoom
A roadshow with no golf or shopping
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