Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp News

Commodities trader Trafigura Beheer has become the first company to offer a defined Covid premium on an Asian syndicated loan, paying up to an extra 20bp all-in on its latest US$1bn-equivalent financing.The novel pricing structure is a first for Asia, if not globally, and could set a precedent for other price-sensitive borrowers looking to limit the long-term effects of the pandemic on their funding costs.Without the Covid premiums, the terms of Trafigura's new deal are little…

Domestic and international lenders are vying for a slice of Japan’s nascent offshore wind power sector, which is expected to provide as much as ¥3trn (US$29bn) in project financing opportunities, albeit at very low margins.Akita Offshore Wind completed the nation’s first fundraising for a major offshore wind project last month, raising ¥80bn to build wind turbines near two ports in western Japan.Auctions for sites off Japan's shores are due to kick off in April, and lenders are…

Russian maritime shipping company specializing in petroleum and LNG shipping Sovcomflot (SCF Group) and NYK Line have announced that they have signed a new $176 million non-recourse credit facility for eight years with three leading international banks.The banks are: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. of Japan (through its German subsidiary, SMBC Bank EU AG); Société Générale of France; and Shinsei Bank of Japan. The agreement was reportedly signed through joint venture companies belonging to SCF Group and NYK Line.The facility will be used towards refinancing two ice-class LNG carriers servicing the Sakhalin-2 project, Grand Aniva and her sister ship Grand Elena, which are jointly owned and operated by SCF Group and NYK Line.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe touted the success of his economic policies on a visit to Brazil on Friday and said it was time for the two nations to expand their trade and investment partnership. On the first visit to Brazil in a decade by a Japanese prime minister, Japanese banks extended $700 million in loans to boost Brazilian soy and corn exports to Japan and build ship platforms for Brazil's burgeoning offshore oil industry. Abe told Brazilian business leaders that Japan has closed a 15-year deflation cycle since his stimulus policies began to kick in and there is great potential to expand trade and investment with Latin America's biggest economy. "With Japan growing again, we can grow with other nations," he said in comments to executives translated by an interpreter.

Over the last two years, credit markets have experienced contraction, deleveraging and reduced liquidity, and governments have taken highly significant measures in response to such events. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators are authorized to take extraordinary actions in the event of market emergencies, and may affect changes in law or interpretations of existing laws. Shipping Finance has evolved with commercial market trends. Today, in response to asset value reduction, the sector requires bullish resilience - assessing the market outlook, exploring the latest capital raising methods and evaluating the emerging business models.