Developers can now issue asset-backed securities

Chinese will let developers issue asset-backed securities while the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission has urged trust firms to pay attention to the real estate market and ensure that no risks will arise when they dispose their assets.

The move to let property companies resume issuance of asset-backed securities ends a three-month market freeze, as authorities act to insulate higher-rated developers from an industry-wide funding crunch.

Meanwhile, shares of China Evergrande (3333) rebounded as much as 4 percent in the morning before closing 0.36 percent higher yesterday. This came as the developer dissolved several district-level units of Fangchebao, its online real-estate and automobile marketplace, due to shrinking capital and business.

It also aims to merge some departments and make personnel changes by November 30 to meet the need of strategic development, mainland media reported.

Another developer, Agile Group (3383), said it has fully redeemed outstanding senior notes in the principal amount of US$190 million (HK$1.48 billion) that are due today.

In other news, Tencent (0700) continued to offload shares of HengTen Networks (0136), the joint venture between the internet giant and Evergrande, cashing out HK$118 million. Tencent has reduced its shareholding to 19.7 percent after the sale.