Standard Chartered issues its first RMB5b financial bond in China

It's a 3-year bond with coupon rate of 4.2%.

In a statement, Standard Chartered China said that with the approval from China Banking Regulatory Commission and the People’s Bank of China, Standard Chartered China has successfully issued a financial bond (hereafter “the bond”) of RMB 5 billion in the domestic inter-bank bond market. The fund raised from this issuance will be used exclusively to support the Bank’s lending to small and micro enterprises.

Standard Chartered China’s maiden RMB financial bond issuance is the first by a foreign bank in support of small and micro enterprises in China, and to date the largest RMB bond issued by foreign banks in China.

The 3-year bond with coupon rate of 4.2% was fully subscribed by institutional investors in the domestic inter-bank bond market. The co-lead underwriters for this issuance were Export-Import Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and China International Capital Corporation Limited (CICC); with CICC as book runner and the Government Securities Depository Trust Company as the custodian. The bond is rated AAA by China Cheng Xin International Credit Rating Company.

Lim Cheng Teck, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice Chairman of Standard Chartered China, said: “We are delighted to be the first foreign bank to issue a financial bond in support of small and micro enterprises in China. We thank our investors for their support. Standard Chartered has been actively responding to the government’s call to enhance financial services for small and micro enterprises. This bond issuance enables us to provide more innovative products and services to this sector. We will continue to actively participate in the development of the domestic bond market, offering more choices to the investors. "

Standard Chartered China maintains good liquidity and a healthy balance sheet, with Advances to Deposit ratio in full compliance with regulatory requirement.