Allen & Overy, Ashurst and Linklaters have advised on the Hong Kong government’s successful issue of HKD6 billion (USD767 million) in multi-currency digital green bonds in the second such issuance since February 2023.
Linklaters advised the joint global co-ordinators, joint lead managers and joint bookrunners: Bank of China (Hong Kong), Crédit Agricole CIB, Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC, HSBC, ICBC (Asia) and UBS.
Capital markets partner Gloria Cheung led the Linklaters team with assistance from financial regulatory partner Kishore Bhindi, capital markets counsel Grace Wee and managing associate Lily Wang. Capital markets counsel Beibei Ding served as legal adviser to the fiscal agent, HSBC.
Cheung said: “We are honoured to have participated in the issuance of this path-breaking multi-currency digital green bonds by the HKSAR Government. Our teams are delighted to contribute meaningfully to the growth of Hong Kong as a digital and green bond hub in the region. We look forward to continuing to work with our clients to further promote a sustainable and responsible development of the securities market powered by digitalisation.”
Allen & Overy acted for the Hong Kong government, while Ashurst represented HSBC, the platform provider.
The two-year multi-currency digital green bonds – denominated in US dollars, euros, Hong Kong dollars and renminbi – represent a significant step towards digitalisation in the financial sector. Issued in a dematerialised book entry form, these bonds utilise distributed ledger technology on the HSBC Orion digital assets platform operated by the Central Moneymarkets Unit of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).
The digital green bonds comprised a HKD2 billion tranche at 3.8%, a RMB1.5 billion tranche at 2.9%, a USD200 million tranche at 4.749% and an EUR80 million tranche at 3.647%. The bonds will be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Eddie Yue, chief executive at the HKMA, said: “Building on the success of the inaugural digital bond offering last year, we are delighted to bring to the market another landmark issuance. This second digital issuance includes multiple innovations that broaden investor access, support interoperability and improve transparency and efficiency. We hope this issuance would promote the development of the digital securities market and encourage the wider adoption of digitalisation technology.”
