Read More
Hong Kong Mortgage Corp (HKMC) said on Thursday it has raised about HK$12 billion via a public sale of digital bonds, saying it is the largest-ever such issuance globally.
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
HKMC is a Hong Kong government-owned company that invests in mortgage and loan assets and raises funds through bond sales.
The deal makes HKMC the first public-sector entity in Hong Kong to issue digital bonds, which are debt securities created and recorded on a digital ledger - a shared electronic record system that can help speed up settlement and reduce paperwork.
The sale included HK$6 billion of two-year bonds, HK$2.5 billion of five-year bonds and 3 billion yuan (HK$3.47 million) of three-year offshore yuan bonds, HKMC said in a statement.
HKMC said orders peaked at about HK$24 billion from more than 100 investor accounts, including central banks, banks, insurers, asset managers and private banks.
The bonds were created on a digital ledger platform run by Hong Kong’s Central Moneymarkets Unit, which also clears and settles them. HKMC said the structure cut settlement to three business days from five.
“This landmark digital bond issuance helps deepen Hong Kong’s digital asset ecosystem and accelerate the adoption of tokenisation technology in the fixed-income market,” said Howard Lee, deputy chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and executive director of HKMC.
Reuters
