Linklaters Advised on Hong Kong's USD767 Million Landmark Digital Green Bond Issuance

Linklaters Advised on Hong Kong's USD767 Million Landmark Digital Green Bond Issuance

Linklaters provided legal counsel for the Hong Kong government's successful issuance of HKD 6 billion (USD 767 million) in multi-currency digital green bonds. This marks the second such issuance since February 2023.

Linklaters advised the joint global coordinators, joint lead managers, and joint bookrunners involved in the offering: Bank of China (Hong Kong), Crédit Agricole CIB, Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC, HSBC, ICBC (Asia), and UBS.

The Linklaters team, led by capital markets partner Gloria Cheung, assisted the 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.

"We are honoured to have participated in this ground-breaking issuance," said Cheung. "Our teams are delighted to contribute to the growth of Hong Kong as a digital and green bond hub in the region. We look forward to continuing to 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.

These two-year multi-currency digital green bonds are denominated in US dollars, euros, Hong Kong dollars, and renminbi, marking a significant step towards financial sector digitalisation. Issued in a dematerialised book entry form, they 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 comprise a HKD2 billion tranche at 3.8 per cent, a RMB1.5 billion tranche at 2.9 per cent, a USD200 million tranche at 4.749 per cent, and an EUR80 million tranche at 3.647 per cent. They will be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Eddie Yue, Chief Executive of the HKMA, expressed his delight at bringing this innovative issuance to the market. He highlighted the multiple innovations included in this offering, such as broadening investor access, supporting interoperability, and improving transparency and efficiency. The HKMA hopes this issuance will further develop the digital securities market and encourage wider adoption of digitalisation technology within the financial sector.