China margin finance boom fuels record brokerage bond sales

Hong Kong

SOARING demand for margin financing in Hong Kong to take advantage of booming Chinese stocks has spurred record offshore fundraising by the nation's brokerages.

Overseas bond issuance from Chinese non-bank financial institutions has jumped four times to US$11.5 billion this year compared with the same period in 2014, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.

The surge comes after China moved in March to let more mainland funds buy Hong Kong stocks through the city's exchange link with Shanghai. China's world-beating stock rally has fuelled an unprecedented US$358 billion of margin debt as individual investors seek to amplif…